More Than One
by lifeisasong
Summary: Troyella. Could denying that he loves her make him miss his chance? What happen's when Gabby's happiness get's suddenly twisted? Could Troy end up battling for her love with someone who's closest to him? See the inside summary for better detail!
1. Boring Weekends, Imititations, and

**Hey this is my first story. I couldn't fit much into the summary so here's a better idea of what it's going to be about. Hope you like it!**

Set after the East High Wildcat's big double win, and the big audition, Troy and Gabriella are preparing for the upcoming musical. Much to Troy's and the rest of the school's surprise, Gabriella starts dating someone who is not the guy they expected. But what will happen when Troy decides to tell her how he feels, and Gabriella finds out that Troy might know her boyfriend better than she does.

_Major Characters:_

Gabriella Montez

Lisa Montez

Jasmine Montez

Troy Bolton

Jack Bolton

Diane Montgomery

Ben Montgomery

Taylor McKessie

Chad Danforth

_Other Characters:_

Sharpay Evans

Ryan Evans

Zeke Baylor

Jason Cross

Kelsi Nielson

**Chapter 1: boring weekends, imitations and some unexpected news.**

Gabriella Montez walked down the hallway of East High, heading for her first period of the day, homeroom. She smiled to herself as she thought about how things were finally settling down for her here. Never at any other school she had moved to, had Gabriella caused such a stir just by trying to be herself. That was the funny thing about life, people were always telling you to just be yourself, but when you try to do it things always go wrong.

She couldn't help but smile when she saw a familiar black Adidas sneaker hit the hallway floor out of the corner of her right eye. She looked up and to the side and saw the brown haired, blue-eyed boy looking at her.

"Hey Troy." She greeted him as they walked.

Troy Bolton, otherwise known as the Golden Boy. He was another thing she hadn't expected when she had moved. Never had she become instant friends with the basketball captain slash most popular kid in school. At New Years she had never thought she would see him again. Who could have known they would become so close?

"Hey Gabby, how was your weekend?" he asked.

She pretended to think about it. "Oh really exciting actually." She watched him raise an eyebrow as he waited for the rest. "I studied for the math test, unpacked my last boxes and watched an old movie marathon." She told him.

Troy sensed her sarcasm. "Aw you were bored because I wasn't home." He replied jokingly, referring to the fact that he had been out of town for the weekend.

"What, you were gone? Where'd you go? I totally didn't notice." Gabriella joked back. She usually got the last say in these things.

"Oh ha ha, you're a comedian now too?" they both laughed at their stupid little banter.

"How was your trip anyways?" she asked.

"Pretty good. Glad to get away from my cousin though." He told her.

"Why is that?"

Troy rolled his eyes. "She's so annoying and doesn't stop talking." He told Gabriella "I swear to god, it's non stop, about boys and clothes and other girls and people she doesn't like. Oh and she had a few friends over and the whole night they all just stared and it freaked me out." he stopped when he saw Gabriella laughing. "What?" he asked.

She shrugged. "She sounds like a typical girl to me."

Troy was confused. "What do you mean? You're not like that."

Gabriella just looked at him. "Maybe not with you." She informed him. "With Taylor, yes. Sharpay, yes."

She laughed and shook her head. "Because their girls."

"Why does that matter?" he smirked.

Gabriella gave a fake dramatic sigh. "Because, Troy, there are certain things that just can't be discussed with a guy."

"Got it." He gave up trying to understand.

"Troy!" Gabriella and Troy both heard someone call his name and turned around. They smiled when they saw their friends, Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie coming towards them. They were holding hands, something that had become normal for the two of them over the past little while that they had been dating.

"Look who it is." Troy said with mock enthusiasm, making Gabriella laugh. Nevertheless, he was happy to see his goofy best friend. "How's it going man?" he greeted him.

"Not bad, how was visiting your uncle's?" Chad asked.

"Pretty good. I'm glad to be back though. Troy told him.

"…Oh okay! Let's go now then." The two boys turned to hear the last part of Taylor and Gabriella's conversation. They had been chatting away this whole time. Taylor looked at her boyfriend. "Hey Chad, Gabby needs to show me something at her locker so I'll meet you in homeroom okay?"

"Alright." He shrugged, not questioning the two girls.

"Let's go." Taylor excitedly grabbed Gabriella's wrist and started off down the hall.

"See ya." Gabby smiled at Troy as she got pulled away.

"Hold on, Gabby will you run lines with me after school? I'm kind of behind and I don't want Darbus to freak out again." He asked before she disappeared.

"As long as you actually work. No video games or super long breaks." She stuck out a finger at him.

"I can only promise to try." He put his hands up in surrender.

Gabriella laughed. "Okay. See you later Troy."

With that, the two girls disappeared off down the hall. Troy turned to Chad to see him giving him a look. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing." Chad shook his head, which was a lot considering that his mass of hair moved with his head.

"Chad what is it? You look like you're going to explode." He asked again.

Chad breathed out. "You know for two people who aren't dating you and Gabs are sickly cute."

"What are you talking about?" Troy hated it when Chad talked about this.

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Hey Gabs want to run lines?" he imitated Troy. "Oh Troy I'd love to but you have to promise me you'll actually work." He put on a high girly voice to imitate Gabriella, and faked a giggle

"Okay, okay, I get it stop!" Troy got Chad to shut up. "Maybe _you_ should have auditioned for the play." He started off towards homeroom.

"Oh but then we couldn't run lines Troy." Chad put the girly voice back on and pretended to bat his eyelashes. Troy ignored him and turned into the classroom.

"Oh come on just admit it." Chad got a bit more serious.

"Admit what?" Troy asked, hoping it would make Chad stop.

"You love Gabriella Montez."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe it, he asked you out?" Taylor said excitedly to her friend.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah." She smiled.

"And…?" Taylor asked.

"I said yes." Gabriella's smile got bigger. "And yesterday we went out."

"Oh my god! Gabby you waited to tell me this?"

"You were with Chad all weekend." Gabriella shrugged.

Taylor giggled. "Don't get me wrong or anything, I love Chad, but its nice to talk to a girl every once and a while."

"I know what you mean." Gabriella smiled.

Taylor's face suddenly changed. She looked serious. "So Gabby are you sure about this boy?"

"His name's Ben, and why wouldn't I be sure?"

Taylor bit her lip. "Well you know, there isn't…..anyone else?"

"You're hinting at Troy and I aren't you?" Gabriella put her hand on her hip.

"God they don't call you a braniac for no reason." Taylor muttered. "Look, I just want to make sure that…"

"Troy and I are friends." Gabriella said what she seemed to be repeating to Taylor. "Good friends."

"Right." Taylor rolled her eyes while Gabriella wasn't looking.

Gabriella shrugged. "Troy hasn't said anything to me yet." She told Taylor. "He probably doesn't like me. Just because everyone wants us to get together doesn't mean it's going to happen."

Taylor wanted to reach out and give her friend a good shake. But she refrained from doing so since she knew that Gabriella was serious when she said something like that. So as much as Taylor wanted to butt in and get her two friend's together, for the sake of the entire school, she just couldn't.

"Alright." She sighed as the turned towards the classroom.

Gabriella looked at her. "Okay don't say anything else because he's in there."

Taylor nodded and followed her best friend into the classroom. The bell marked their entrance. She smiled at Chad and blew him a kiss as she sat down. She watched Troy's eyes follow Gabby to the back of the classroom. They both smiled when she caught his eye.

It was _so _hard not to get involved.


	2. Forgotten Lines and Hot Mugs of Coffee

**Chapter 2: forgotten lines and hot mugs of coffee**

"Troy come on I know you know this one." Gabby said hopefully. She watched Troy rub his head, trying to think.

"What was your last line again?" he asked.

Gabriella cleared her throat. "What do you mean Arnold?" she recited.

"Oh." Troy suddenly remembered. "I don't know Minnie, but all I know is that you've always been right there beside me but I never realized just how much I loved you." He said his line perfectly. Gabby was smiling.

"I…" she was just beginning her line when her cell phone beeped. "One second." She took it out of her pocket, flipped it open and read the screen, a smile coming to her face. When she closed it she looked at Troy. "Um do you mind if we cut this short?" she asked carefully. "There's something I have to do."

Troy sensed something was going on but didn't want to push it. "Sure. I need to practice a bit anyways." He smiled.

A smiled made its way back onto her face. "You're doing so much better." She told him. "Tomorrow during free period we can practice more if you want."

"Sounds good." He shrugged easily, knowing there would be no free period workouts for basketball since they had just won the championships. His dad would lay off for a bit.

"Perfect." Gabriella hugged him before getting up. "See you tomorrow." She said finally before leaving.

Troy sat there feeling a little puzzled. Something was going on with her and he couldn't figure it out.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella went into the coffee shop and slipped into a booth at the back beside a boy who smiled and wrapped an arm around her.

"Hey I thought you had decided not to come." He said to her.

Gabriella smiled at him. "Why would I do that?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know….maybe you don't like coffee." He joked.

She brought her face close to his and looked right into his blue eyes. "Well I'm here and I _love _coffee." She moved her face away.

"Good because I ordered two already." He told her.

Gabriella smiled. "So even though you thought I might not be coming you knew I would anyways."

He was silent for a moment as he took that in. "Exactly." He laughed just as she did.

"So what was so urgent that I needed to come here for?" she asked, getting down to business as a steaming mug of coffee was placed in front of her.

"Two reasons." He told her.

"Okay what are they?" she was getting anxious.

"Number one, I wanted to see you." He watched her break out into another smile.

"I'm happy you messaged me." She told him.

"Good."

She looked at him expectantly. "So what's the second reason?" she asked.

"Well…" he began. "I have a big football game this Sunday and I was hoping that my girlfriend might want to come."

There was no way that Gabriella could have not noticed the way he had emphasized the word girlfriend. He had pretty much asked her out on a date and to officially be his girlfriend in one quick sentence. She caught her breath for a moment.

"Gabby?" he snapped her away from her thoughts.

She shook her head to get back to reality. "I'd love to come Ben." She told him with a smile. He didn't say anything in response but leaned in and gave her a soft kiss.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Wow so you're officially a couple now." Taylor smiled when Gabby told her about her and Ben's unexpected date the night before. They were sitting in the red and white cafeteria eating lunch. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday." Gabriella replied.

"After school? Weren't you and Troy running lines or whatever?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah we were for a while. Then Ben messaged me so we stopped and I went to meet him." She said, not thinking there was anything wrong with that.

"Oh okay." Taylor shrugged. "Well I'm happy for you, sister." She said cheerfully.

"Hey girls what are you talking about?" Chad interrupted their conversation, and they looked up to see him and Troy setting lunch trays down on the table.

"Nothing." Gabby replied instantly.

"Let me guess, gossip, clothes, boys…" he rolled his eyes.

"Yes actually." Taylor told him.

Chad smirked. "Which one, gossip, clothes or boys?" he asked.

"Boys." Taylor supplied. Gabriella hoped she would keep her mouth shut.

"Should I be worried?" Chad asked. Troy looked at her too, waiting for an answer.

"Why would we be talking about either of you?" Gabriella joined into the conversation, matching Chad's smirk.

"Because we're incredibly good looking basketball players?" her big-haired friend replied. Troy just rolled his eyes and elbowed him.

"Wow, so modest too." Gabriella noted. She and Taylor both laughed.

"Ouch, Gabriella." Chad put a hand to his heart. "So tell us then. Who is it?"

"Not telling." The brunette crossed her arms and shook her head. She noticed that Troy was laughing again.

"Fine, Taylor?" Chad turned to his girlfriend.

"Sorry boyfriend, but there are certain secrets I can't tell you. Such as my best friend's." She shrugged.

"Oh so this is about Gabby then isn't it?" Chad realized, focusing back onto her.

"No." Gabby replied shaking her head softly as she noticed Troy looking interested again.

"So you were just talking about a guy but didn't mean anything by it?" he asked, looking straight at the girls.

Darn, he always got her. "Not necessarily." Gabby replied, not revealing too much, but knowing she couldn't lie.

Troy gave a small laugh. "Who is it?" he asked.

"We're not just going to tell…" Gabriella started.

"Jason?" Chad interrupted her.

"No."

"Ryan?" Troy asked but immediately shook his head when they all realized how weird that would be. He was a nice guy and a good friend but the way he seemed to be his sister's shadow prevented him from getting close to anyone.

"No." Gabriella sighed

"Zeke?" Chad asked.

"No Chad!" Taylor rolled her eyes. "Zeke has a girlfriend remember? I didn't think it was hard t forget Sharpay."

He put his hands up in defense. "I was just asking because you know in the not so distant past it seemed like Sharpay and Gabs here were competing, and I really don't think it would be good if that kept going."

"Okay we get it." Gabriella shut him up.

Troy looked thoughtful, then looked at the girls. "That guy from chemistry who's always flirting with Gabby?" he asked.

Taylor scrunched her nose up. "Tyler? No."

"Taylor! He's nice." Gabriella couldn't stand to be mean to anyone.

"Yeah in his creepy, silently obsessed sort of way." Taylor pointed out. Troy nearly choked on his milk from trying to keep laughter in.

"Okay give us a hint, we don't have much time until class." Chad said.

Gabriella got up from the table, Taylor following her. She looked at the two boys with a smirk before leaving. "Okay here's a hint, he doesn't go to East High." She waited a moment to see the confusion spread across their faces before turning and walking away with her best friend.


	3. A Perfect Mix of Shampoo and Perfume

**Hey! I'm glad to be getting a few people interested in my story, yay. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy**

**Chapter 3:  A Perfect Mix of Shampoo and Perfume**

When you got to know Gabriella Montez, you realized that there was much more to her than her pretty, smart girl outer shell. She wasn't just book smart, good at sciences and math. Her performances in musical rehearsals were better than any show ever performed by Sharpay Evans, and her and Troy were beginning to become a bit of a legend in East High.

But the one thing people didn't realize about Gabriella was that she was outstanding at hiding her feelings. She was just smart enough to twist conversations around so that people thought she was feeling different. That is what had happened at lunch with Troy and Chad. There were so many things in that conversation she wish hadn't been said.

"They know about Ben." Gabriella sighed as she walked towards English with Taylor.

"I doubt it Gabby." Taylor was trying to be reassuring.

"I don't know." She was still unsure.

Taylor looked at her. "What's really going on here?" she asked. "Is this something you wouldn't want a certain someone to find out about?"

"You know you can just say Troy because I know you're talking about him." Gabby pointed out.

"Okay, but answer my question." Taylor knew she was trying to avoid it.

Gabby shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just not sure what he'll think and I don't want things to be weird. I mean other than you, Troy is one of my best friends, and we're spending a lot of time together because of the musical so I just don't want it to be awkward or anything."

"Wow. Okay. Maybe you should just tell him then." Taylor suggested.

"What do you mean, how's that going to help anything?" Gabby was confused.

Taylor looked at her. "Tell him about your boyfriend. If he somehow finds out before you tell him then things will probably be weird because he'll wonder why you didn't tell him. It just wont be any good for your friendship."

"I guess you're right." Gabriella thought about it. "I just have to do it." She felt herself gain confidence about it just saying those words.

"Good." Taylor smiled at her work just as the bell rang for class.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Dude that was so weird." Chad laughed a bit at the conversation they had just had with the girls. He waved a hand in front of Troy's face. He seemed to have gone into a weird trance. "Troy!"

Troy looked at his best friend immediately. "Something's up." He told him. Chad waited for more. "With Gabby. She's been acting weird since last night."

"What happened last night?" this was news to Chad.

"She got a message on her phone and she suddenly had to go." Troy shrugged.

"So your study date was cut short?"

"Yeah, I mean no. It wasn't a date we were just running lines." He corrected.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So you think there might be something go on with someone?" he asked.

"Makes sense doesn't it?" Troy said.

"Yeah but don't you think you should maybe just ask her first?"

He was a little unsure. "Maybe…" A smile came to Troy's face. "You know Chad, I don't know what I'd do without you man." He patted his friend on the back while getting up to leave the cafeteria. "Come on we have class."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella was coming out of her last class when she saw Troy leaning casually against the wall in the hallway, one sneaker resting on the locker behind him.

"Hey Troy." She said as she passed him. "Is there a reason why you were magically standing outside of my history class or was it just a coincidence?" she asked. He fell into step with her down the hallway.

"No, I was waiting for you." He told her.

"Okay, so what's up?" she asked. "Need more help with your lines Arnold?" she joked. They sometimes called each other their character names, not realizing that their friends found it annoyingly flirty.

He stuck his hands in his jean pockets. "Actually I have basketball practice, but I wanted to talk to you about something."

She gave him a weird look. "That's funny because as soon as I put these books away I was going to try to find you because there's something _I _want to talk to you about."

"Really?" Troy was surprised.

"Yeah but go ahead." She told him.

"Okay, um, well." For some reason he suddenly felt nervous wanting to know what she had to say. "Is something going on with you? It's just, you left so suddenly last night then today at lunch…" he trailed off.

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Gabriella was a little surprised. They both were. She stopped walking and looked at him seriously. "Okay Troy I want you to know I'm telling you this because I want you to hear it from me, because I really don't want it to change our friendship." She said, looking at him to make sure he understood.

Troy was feeling more then a little nervous now. He nodded, swallowing slowly and waiting for her to speak.

"Okay well, there's this guy I met a while ago at that conference thing I went to after Decathlon, you know, the one that Taylor couldn't come on and I really didn't want to go?" she started. Troy nodded so she continued. "Well, he asked me out a few days ago so…" she didn't finish her sentence.

"Oh." Troy replied at first. There was a silence where she waited for him to say something else and he thought. He wasn't quite sure what to do. But as he thought he realized that sure, it might be disappointing for him, and not what he wanted at all, but she had told him that she wanted to make sure their friendship wouldn't be affected.

She had put him on top, valued their friendship. That brought a feeling to Troy that made him unable to react in the way he might have.

"Troy?" she said finally. Her sweet voice cut through the silence.

He gave her a small smile. "I'm happy for you Gabs." He told her. Whether he really was, he wasn't sure.

Gabriella smiled. "Oh good!" she said happily. "Because honestly that is just so good to get out in the open." She breathed out. "So you're okay with this?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Troy kept his little smile on.

She shook her head. "I don't know…" it seemed like she was not expecting this happy conversation. "Well, I guess I should get going." She told him.

"Alright." Troy nodded. She gave him a hug. He could smell her perfectly. A mix of shampoo and perfume.

"I'll talk to you later." She pulled away. He watched her wave hand in goodbye while she disappeared off down the hall.

Neither of them had expected that conversation to go the way it had.

To be continued

**- Okay so that might have been a little sad, and Gabby was probably a bit harsh, but you'll see how she's really feeling in the next chapter.**


	4. Reactions and Distractions

**Hey sorry, it's been a while since I updated, so I'm giving you double. :) **

**Chapter 4: Reactions and Distractions**

Gabriella was nearly out of the front doors of East High when she ran into the perky Sharpay and quiet Ryan Evans. They were all smiles, which was good to see. Sharpay had finally given up on trying to ruin Troy and Gabriella's winning of the lead roles.

"Hey Gabriella!" Sharpay greeted her happily.

"Hi Sharpay. Hey Ryan." She shifted her bag on her shoulder. She didn't mind talking to them but she really wanted to get home right now.

"No rehearsal today?" Ryan asked interestedly.

"Nope." She told them.

"Oh I can't wait until the rest of us can come in!" Sharpay said. So far Ms. Darbus was just getting Troy and Gabriella to stay for practices. Since they had the lead roles, the needed to work more on it. Soon the rest of the cast would join them.

"Yeah it should be good." Gabriella had learnt a while ago that with Sharpay, you just had to act happy, otherwise she would bug you forever trying to figure out what was wrong. "Anyways I should be going guys." She told them.

"Bye Gabriella." Ryan smiled at her. It was comforting, his friendly Ryan smile.

"Later." She told them.

"Oh one second!" Sharpay stopped her before she could escape. "I forgot to tell you. On Saturday we're having a big study group thing at our house." She told Gabby. "It's for the Chemistry test so we really need you there." She smiled, waiting for a response.

Saturday. Gabby ran it through her mind. Saturday was when she had agreed to go out with Ben. "I'll have to see." She told Sharpay.

Sharpay seemed a little shocked. So did Ryan for that matter. "What?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I think I'm busy. I'm supposed to be doing something with my boyfriend actually." She told her. It felt weird to say that.

"Your boyfriend?" Sharpay was confused. As far as she new, as long as Troy and Gabby hadn't hooked up two minutes ago, they weren't together.

"Yeah." Gabriella gave her a smile. "You don't know him." She told her, knowing what was coming.

A big smile broke out on Sharpays face. "Oh my gosh Gabby that's great!" she said happily, although, she had no idea what was going on. Why was Gabriella Montez with someone other then Troy Bolton? "Well how about Sunday?" she asked. She knew they needed Gabriella there.

Gabriella blushed a little. "Actually I can't Sunday. He has a big football game then and I said I'd go." She told her friend. She immediately sensed their disappointment. "But you know what, I'm pretty sure I can go on Saturday. I'll let you know later."

"Alright. Bye Gabby!" Sharpay flashed her a final smile and let her leave.

She sighed as her friends walked away. There was this weird feeling inside of her ever since she had talked to Troy. Now the conversation she had just had made it worse. Was she pushing them away? She would never want that to happen.

She loved the study sessions their large group of friends had every time there was a big test. Everyone always felt so satisfied with themselves at the end of the day. They all helped each other and it seemed to work well. She really hoped she'd be able to go.

Just as she was about to get into her car her cell phone started ringing. She rifled through her bag and found it sitting at the bottom. When she read the display she knew it was Ben. For some reason she didn't want to talk to him. Her mind flashed to Troy. He'd been so good about Ben when she'd told him. But almost too good. She knew she'd hurt him somehow.

She sat in her car and waited until the ringing of her phone stopped. She was plunged into silence. She realized that as good as her intentions had been, things definitely weren't going to be normal. "Stupid…" she muttered to herself, closing her eyes.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Chad and Taylor were watching TV in the living room of the Danforth house. For some reason, Chad always seemed to get Taylor off track of her work. They always started out studying, but then they'd get bored. Chad would flick on the TV, they'd find something good on. It was the perfect way to wind down the day.

Today however, Taylor just couldn't concentrate on anything. She was half watching the TV, half trying to read the textbook open on her lap. Neither seemed to take her mind off of her wondering.

"You okay?" Chad seemed to notice.

"Sure." She nodded, lost in thought.

He looked at her. "Uh…Taylor. What's up?"

She promise Gabriella she wouldn't tell. But she needed to. She just couldn't keep it in. When she thought about it, Chad was her boyfriend. Wasn't there some sort of unwritten rule that you were allowed to tell your boyfriend anything?

"I'm just wondering about Gabriella." She told him.

"What about her?" Chad asked. The phone rang. He picked it up quickly. "Hello?" he spoke into the receiver, still looking at Taylor.

"Is Taylor with you? This is urgent!" Sharpay's voice came flooding into his ear.

"Yeah. What is it?" he asked.

"Ryan and I were just talking to Gabriella." Sharpay informed him.

"And…"

"Did you know she has a boyfriend?"

Chad's face changed a little. "What?"

"That's what I said. Apparently he doesn't go to East. He plays football." Sharpay told him everything she knew.

"Did you know about this?" Chad asked Taylor, who was attempting to hear their conversation.

"What?"

"About Gabby's so called boyfriend."

Taylor looked a little nervous. "Um, yeah." She admitted. "Only since yesterday though!" she said defensively.

"Chad are you still there?" Sharpay's voice came back.

"Yeah sorry."

"That's okay. I actually have to get going." She told him. "But I just wanted to let you know."

"Okay, Bye Sharpay." Chad replied and they both hung up. He went over and flopped back onto the couch. "I should call Troy. Don't you think he'd rather hear it from one of use instead of some random gossiper?" he reached for the phone.

"Actually I think Gabriella was going to tell him. She probably already has." Taylor told him.

"Okay." He leaned back again. There was a silence. "So what do you think about this?" he asked her.

Taylor sighed. "I think, this isn't going to end well at all."


	5. Not Right

**Chapter 5: Not Right**

It was a cool Sunday. Gabriella was wrapped up in her jacket with a sweater underneath, wondering why she had agreed to come to a football game. She didn't even like football, or understand it for that matter. She wasn't very big on sports. She was a supporter, not a participator.

She gathered from the people around her that Ben was good. The best on the team, even. So at least she had a good reason to be there. It was just so cold.

There was some sort of break and Gabriella pushed her way through the crowd. Her stomach had just reminded her that she was starving, so she set out to find somewhere to get something to eat or drink.

She found a table where students were selling hot chocolate. Just what she needed. There were two lines so she joined one of them, going off into her own world as she slowly inched forward. Finally she made it to the front.

"How many would you like?" A blonde girl asked from behind the counter.

"Just one." Gabriella replied.

"Alright two dollars." The girl told her. She accepted Gabby's money and handed her a steaming cup in exchange.

"Thanks." Gabriella started to walk away. Then she heard a voice, a familiar voice. She swung her head around to find where it was coming from.

Then she saw him. Jack Bolton, Troy's dad. It didn't occur to her to wonder why he would be here, East high wasn't playing. Instead she was glad to see a familiar face and walked over to say hello.

He saw his son's friend as she neared and smiled. "Well Hello Gabriella, what a surprise!" He greeted her happily. Over the past little while he'd become much more accustomed to Gabriella. She had learnt from Troy that his dad could be a little harsh sometimes. He was still getting over his divorce. It wasn't a nasty divorce or anything, in fact Troy's parents still remained good friends, which was why they had taken Troy on a trip together, over Christmas break. They wanted him to still have a family. Gabriella thought that was so great of them.

"Hi Mr. Bolton. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm doing good." He said. "How about you, are you here alone?"

She nodded. "Yeah I'm just here to see a… friend of mine." She didn't know why she felt the need to lie about Ben to Troy's dad.

"Ah I see. Well I'll let you get back to that." He smiled at her. "Good to see you Gabriella."

"Bye." She watched him walk in the opposite direction to where she was going.

Then it finally came to her, what was Jack Bolton doing at a West High Football game?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy had decided there was no need to mope. There was no need to sulk around and think of nothing else but the fact that Gabriella was currently taken.

Troy didn't think he was the smartest guy alive, and he knew that he definitely didn't know everything, but he did know a few things. Firstly, he knew that over the past five days, he'd spent just as much time with Gabriella as he had before. So obviously they weren't being torn apart. Actually, when Troy thought about it, he probably spent more time with Gabby then with anyone else, between school, rehearsals and just hanging out.

Secondly, he knew that Gabriella wasn't completely sure about this guy or what was going on between them. He'd heard little snippets of conversations she had with Taylor or Sharpay. Every time someone asked her about her boyfriend she changed the subject. She didn't want to talk about it and seemed a bit bummed out when conversations led to him. Maybe he didn't really have to worry that much about losing her at all.

But most of all, Troy Bolton knew he had made a mistake.

For so long he'd denied the fact that he should just ask her out. He'd avoided the subject and laughed about the rumors about them with Gabriella. He'd taken her for granted, and now she was with someone else. That was the biggest mistake he could have made.

So now he was going to fix it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella kept wondering the same thing as she drove home, pushed open her front door, and dragged herself up the stairs to her bedroom. Why had Mr. Bolton been at the football game?

She had thought briefly about asking Troy, but then pushed that idea from her mind when she remembered that she tried not to associate Ben with the rest of her friends.

Luckily her thoughts were interrupted when the door flew open. Her sister came bouncing across the floor to Gabriella's bed and flung herself on it.

"Hey sis." She said happily.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. "Hey Jaz." She greeted her sister. "What's with you?"

Her older sister smiled and gave a light sigh. "Gabby, I'm in love." She said dreamily.

Gabby laughed a little. "Jasmine, you're always in love." She told her sister. It was true. She loved people to easily, and ended up getting her heart broken a lot because of it.

The two Montez girls couldn't be more different. The older one, Jasmine had a wild side that she had taken from their father. She loved adventure and was always going on the craziest trips to places people wouldn't think to go. She threw herself out there, not scared to take a risk.

Gabriella was a complete opposite, though she had felt like she had been acting more and more like Jaz this past while. Usually she kept to herself. She didn't need everyone to be her friend or even know her. She concentrated a lot on school because she knew she wasn't usually in one place long enough to make good friends.

But this time was different. Her mother promised they would stay. She had a friend instantly on her first day. Together they'd changed the school, a risk she had been definitely nervous about. She'd never done that before.

"No this is it Gabs." Jasmine said. There was a serious tone to her otherwise happy voice. "He could be the one."

They'd argued over this too many times. Gabriella really didn't feel like getting into anything with her sister right now. "Well I hope you're happy then." She said honestly.

Jasmine looked at her weirdly. "You're sure you're Gabriella right? My little sister who always insists that I should be careful and to not fall in love so quickly."

"Yes." Gabby replied. "Sorry I'm not really in the mood for much right now."

Her sister looked a little worried. "What's wrong Gabby? You've seemed a little down lately." She asked.

Gabriella looked at her sister, someone who she could tell everything to without worrying about her telling anyone. She breathed in and looked out her window briefly. "Things are just really complicated right now." She told Jaz.

"What is it?"

Before Gabriella could think she was telling her sister everything. Jasmine listened carefully, taking in everything Gabby said.

"So now you're with Ben?" she asked.

Gabby nodded. "It seemed like forever that I waited." She replied. "I waited for Troy to say anything, or do anything. I know it's stupid, I should have just done something about it myself." She looked down at her hands. "I just gave up on believing there was something there. I ignored it and agreed to go out with Ben. So now we're together and I feel like I've like…betrayed Troy or something." She said.

"Sounds complicated to me." Jasmine looked a little shocked. Usually she was having all of the problems.

"I just don't know what to do." Gabby shrugged.

"Well if I were you, I would tell Troy what you just told me." Jasmine suggested. "But then again, if I were you, I'd be way to scared to do that. So instead, just go and talk to him. Clear the air. Make things the way they used to be." She urged. "Just do something about it instead of making yourself miserable." She told her.

Gabby thought about it. Jasmine was right, she needed to stop moping around. It was time to do something about this.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy walked along the same route he had taken many times before. It was silent out, so he was able to think and figure out what he was going to say to her. A car drove by and the brightness of the lights in his eyes made him lose track his thoughts.

"Troy?" his head popped up.

"Gabby." He wondered what she was doing out here. "I was on my way to your house." He told her.

She gave a small laugh. "I was just going to yours actually." She told him. "Weird…" she thought aloud.

"Why were you coming over?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and went for it. "Troy, I don't like the way things have been lately." She said.

"Me neither."

"I've been kind of moping around over nothing." She told him truthfully. "So I want to do something about it. Clear the air. Anything." She felt herself getting rid of frustration.

"I know what you mean." Troy admitted. "Look Gabby I haven't really been honest with you." He told her. "When you first told me about your boyfriend I wasn't really happy for you, I was more shocked. But now, I'm okay with it." He shrugged.

"Okay." She was a little confused at his words but she knew that something heavy had already been lifted. "Thanks for telling me." She told him.

"Sorry I wasn't just honest in the first place." He told her. "That was stupid."

"No I understand." She replied.

"I just want you to be happy okay?" he looked at her. His big blue eyes told her that he really meant it.

"Thanks Troy." She smiled and hugged him, not letting go for a while longer then she should have.

There was just something that felt so perfect. Maybe it was the soft, slightly worn out fabric of his Wildcat's sweater, maybe it was the smell of his cologne. What ever it was, she didn't want to let go, neither did he.

When they pulled apart, their cheeks brushed. They caught each other's eyes and stared. Slowly, without thinking their faces got closer and closer. Suddenly the headlights of a car blinded them both.

Gabriella stepped back. "I'm glad I bumped into you Troy." She told him. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

They both turned back and walked in opposite directions towards their separate houses. On their way home they both wondered, had talking made things better or worse?


	6. The Jacket Cure

**Hey! Here's an update.**

**Chapter 6:** **The Jacket Cure**

"Alright class," Ms. Edwards told her student's at the end of their last period English class. "Remember tomorrow we'll be going to see the stage version of Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_." She reminded them. "So don't be late because we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning.

Troy watched Chad's hand fly up into the air, knowing what was coming. Chad seemed to be quite the class clown in English and loved joking around with Ms. Edwards.

"Yes Mr. Danforth?" she asked exhaustedly. She too knew the kind of thing she was about to hear.

"I'd just like to know so I can brace myself tonight." Chad told her. "Are all of the guys going to be wearing leotards, because that's just going to be a bit of a problem for me." His classmates burst out in laughter, wondering where he came up with everything.

"Well I hope you'll be able to manage, since you'll need to watch carefully in order to do well on the write up you'll be doing about the experience of seeing the play performed." The bell finally rang as she finished her sentence and the class groaned. "Alright see you all tomorrow, and remember, theatre appropriate clothing!"

"You mean I can't wear one of my shirts?" Chad asked, looking down at the shirt he had slipped on today. It was bright yellow and read _I'm Kind of a Big Deal._

"No Chad." Ms. Edwards told him, picking up her books and walking out of the classroom. He heard giggling behind him and turned around to see three girls, all staring at him and giggling.

"What do you three want?" he asked

"Someone likes Ms. Edwards." Sharpay sang, making Taylor and Gabby laugh.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her. Troy was leaning on his desk waiting for everyone. He had just rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face.

"Come on Chad, we're girls." Gabby told him. "We know that guys try to joke around to impress." She shrugged casually.

Taylor and Sharpay laughed at Gabby's bold comment. Chad looked a little shocked, and noticed that Troy was laughing now too.

"Hey man, you're supposed to stick with me on this!" he told Troy who tried to stop laughing.

"Sorry dude but I think she got you there." He told Chad. He noticed Gabriella smile in success.

"Ugh fine." Chad crossed his arms.

"Aw honey-bun we still love you." Taylor stepped forward and hugged her boyfriend.

A sly grin came to Chad's face. "Good because I'll get you all back." He smirked.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning Gabriella got up a little earlier, not knowing what to wear to go to the theatre. She finally picked out a nice skirt, heels and a long sleeved shirt, knowing it was still a little cool out. She left her hair down, and dragged herself to school, still feeling tired, and now slightly sick.

By the time she got to school she felt a little better. She saw groups of students waiting out the front of East High, all of them going on the trip. Apparently the buses hadn't arrived yet.

She saw her friends standing around the fountain and went straight over. Sharpay came and hugged her, having seen her first.

"Hey looking good Gabs." She told her friend.

"You too Sharpay." She smiled back. When she looked at her friend she realized that she really meant it. Sharpay had toned it down a little over the past while. She wore simpler things now. Today she looked elegant, Gabriella liked it.

"Thanks." Sharpay said happily.

"Hey Troy." Gabby hugged him when he came over. When they pulled apart she looked at him. "Oh my god." She muttered.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"You're wearing this jacket." She informed him, reaching out and touching the arm.

"Oh." He smiled. "Yeah."

This is the first thing I ever saw you in." she smiled too. She remembered that night, when they had both been pushed onto the little stage in the ski chalet. That's when all of this had begun.

"You're right." Troy realized, feeling good knowing that just wearing this jacket had made her so excited. Gabriella gave a small laugh.

Two big yellow buses pulled up in front of the school. Ms. Edward's class went on one bus, while the other half that made up another class went on the other bus. Gabby followed her friends onto the bus, still feeling a bit sick like she had when she had left her house. She tried to ignore it, wanting to have a good time.

She grabbed Troy's arm, dragging him to the back of the bus where Taylor and Chad were already shuffling into a seat. In front of them were Sharpay and Kelsi, who had become inseparable over the past little while. Zeke, Ryan and Jason were in the other class and had been herded onto that bus instead.

"Come on." She told him. The two of them sat down. Ms. Edward's took attendance and the bus pulled away from East high.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

About fifteen minutes into the bus ride, Gabriella had to stop ignoring her sick feeling. It seemed to be getting worse and worse. But she had been having a good time just talking to Troy, so she hadn't said anything about it. When Chad leaned over to tell him something, she rested her head against the window, closing her eyes and taking in the good feeling of the cool window.

"Gabriella?" her eyes fluttered open when she heard Troy's voice.

"Yeah?" she straightened up again, leaning against the back of the seat.

"You okay?" Troy's blue eyes looked slightly worried.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"You look really pale." He told her.

Gabriella shrugged. "I'm not feeling the greatest today." She told him, which was true. She wished she could be back in bed but really wanted to go see the play too. Plus, she didn't want Troy to make a big deal.

He seemed to get the message that she didn't want to be bothered about it. "Well maybe this will make you feel a bit better." He reached into his pocket and grabbed his ipod, unwinding the headphones and offering her one.

"Perfect." She slipped it into her ear. They fell into silence as they listened. He clicked it onto the playlist that they made of songs they both liked. They did this a lot during free periods when they would sit in the library and do homework.

Though the music cheered her up, Gabby couldn't help but feel worse and worse. She started feeling cold and hot at the same time. She didn't notice that she was shivering, but Troy obviously did.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her, looking worried again.

"Yeah I'm fine." She insisted.

"Gabby you're shivering." He lifted a hand up and put it on her forehead. "And you're boiling hot. You have a fever."

She wasn't sure what to say. Part of her was shocked at his reaction, making sure she was okay and figuring out what was really wrong when she obviously wasn't. "I…" she began.

"Here." He interrupted her. Before she knew it, Troy was taking off his jacket. He wrapped it around her shoulders. "You should probably sleep, it'll help." He told her.

"Troy…" she wanted to tell him that she loved how good he was being, but she just didn't need to take his jacket from him. She held back though. It was still warm from him, and helped her feel less cold. When she saw the look on his face she knew she couldn't refuse. "…thank you." She finished.

She leaned against him and closed her eyes. He had lifted his arm to let her in and now it was around her, making her feel even warmer. She wished she could say so much more than thank you to how much he cared. Even though she felt sick and tired, she couldn't help but be happy about where she was right now.

Hold on, didn't she have a boyfriend? The thought floated across her mind before she fell asleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When the bus stopped at their destination, Troy gently nudged Gabriella awake.

She squinted from the sunlight, sitting up and looking around. "Are we there?" she asked him.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?" Troy asked, watching her carefully.

His jacket was still around her shoulders. She thought for a moment. "A lot better." She finally replied.

"Good." He nodded.

She started slipping his jacket off. "Here."

"No keep it, I don't want you to get cold." He stopped her from giving it to him.

"But now you'll get cold." She pointed out.

Troy just shrugged. "I'm not the one who's sick." He told her.

Gabriella gave a small smile. "I guess you're right."

They got off the bus with the rest of their class. The play was good, and Gabriella was glad that she was feeling better enough to enjoy it. They were all allowed to go out for lunch before returning to the bus and going home. Gabriella remembered to give Troy his jacket back before she left, and crawled into bed as soon as she got home, falling asleep almost instantly, having had a busy day.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Gabriella woke up her phone was ringing next to her head. She rolled over and grabbed it, not looking at the ID before answering.

"Hello?" she asked tiredly.

"Hey what's up?" she recognized Ben's voice. "You sound tired."

"Yeah well I got sick today." She told him, leaning against her pillows.

"Really? Are you okay, do you want me to bring you anything?" he asked instantly.

Gabby smiled. "No I'm fine I just want to sleep really." She told him. It felt good to have people caring so much about her being sick.

"Alright well give me a call to let me know you're okay when you wake up."

"Okay." She agreed.

"Bye Ben."

"Bye." She heard him hang up and did the same. She put her phone back on her table and snuggled back into her comforters, knowing she'd wake up and feel ten times better.

**Hehe, I personally liked this chapter. The big twist is coming!**


	7. Rehearsals and Mass Sleepovers

**UPDATEEEEE:)**

**Chapter 7: Rehearsals and Mass Sleepovers.**

It had been a few weeks since Gabriella was sick. Things between her and Troy are just as complicated as ever. They are practicing more and more for the musical since it is coming very soon. But they haven't gotten anything but praise from Ms. Darbus or the rest of the cast, who had joined them for practices. The whole thing was really coming together.

Sharpay and Gabriella were sitting in the red theatre seats watching the scene that was currently being rehearsed. Troy and Ryan were the two characters in the scene.

"Hey Gabs, want to go out for coffee after this, I could really use some!" Sharpay leaned over and whispered to her. They had to be very careful about talking during a scene. Ms. Darbus hated it.

Gabriella liked that idea. "Sure, let's drag the guys along." She replied, referring to Ryan, Troy and Kelsi. Going out after practice seemed to be a routine for them. They were always exhausted after a long day.

"Awesome." Sharpay turned back to watching the scene. One of the background people had done something wrong and was being corrected. Troy and ryan were laughing about something.

Gabriella felt her phone vibrate in her bag. She had turned it on silent just in case. Making sure Ms. Darbus was pre-occupied, she slipped it out and read the message.

_Hey, about tomorrow._

_I'll pick you up at 1:00._

_-Ben_

She replied with a simple 'sounds good and shut her phone, biting her lip as she put it away. His message made her a little nervous because of what it was about. He'd invited her to come meet his family. They had lunch every once and a while. She had said yes simply because she couldn't say no to that. It was sweet knowing he wanted them to meet her.

"Alright that's enough of that for now." Ms. Darbus said, brining Gabriella back to the present. "Montez, Evans, let's give the boys a break and do your scene."

Gabriella and Sharpay obediently got up, making their way to the stage steps.

Troy met Gabby on his way down. "How'd I do?" he asked with a smile.

Gabriella smiled and gave him thumbs up. "Great." She told him, even though she had been clued out for the past few minutes. "We're going out fro coffee after this." She informed him.

"Sounds good to me." He shrugged and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"We don't have all day people." Gabriella jumped when Ms. Darbus called out. Troy tried not to laugh as she scurried up the stairs and joined Sharpay, who just shook her head.

"Someone distracting you?" she whispered over to Gabby.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She shook her head. When she glanced out at the sea of chairs, she saw Troy and Ryan settling into the front row.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

After another hour of rehearsal, they had gotten through most of the play and were all desperately in need of the coffee that was on their minds. Finally Ms. Darbus told them to have a good weekend, and that she would see them on Monday.

"Did that seem to stretch on for about ten years to anyone else?" Troy complained when the five of them were all sitting in the café with cookies, pastries and coffees.

Kelsi shrugged. "It's worse for you guys I guess. I just have to play piano for hours. God I wish I could get those songs out of my head." She laughed.

Gabriella smiled. "I think it's going to be really good though when we're done."

"Definitely." Sharpay agreed, sipping at her coffee. "Someone's tired." Nodded over to Troy, who was now leaning on his hand with his eyes closed. Gabriella giggled.

He opened his eyes and glared at them both. "Hey at least you don't have basketball and rehearsals." He told them.

"Good point." Gabby shrugged.

"Hey how about we have like a huge movie marathon tomorrow. We can start after breakfast and go all day." Sharpay said excitedly. "Everyone can sleep over, we have enough room right Ryan?"

"Yeah. Tons." He nodded. "And our parents are gone so we can have the house to ourselves.

"Well sounds good but I'm busy tomorrow." Troy informed them "What about if we started in the afternoon?"

"Yeah I don't know if I could go the whole day either. But afternoon sounds good."

"That's fine. I'll invite the rest of the gang too." Sharpay said happily. She was already excited. All of them in one house for the night? Something was definitely going to happen.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next day, Gabby had woken up and showered. She'd put on a nice sundress and make up. She let her hair dry like she normally did, in it's big, loose curls. Then she'd waited for Ben, and he'd come just on time like he always did. The club where they were going for lunch wasn't far from her house It had only taken a few minutes to get there.

"Hey go ahead, I'm going to park." Ben told Gabriella as he pulled up in front of the country club.

"I can walk with you." She told him with a smile. She thought it was cute though how he had offered.

Ben just looked at her. "In those shoes?" he asked, and watched as she looked down at her navy blue heels.

"Okay you have a point." She rolled her eyes and reached for the door.

"See you in a few minutes." Ben told her, watching her get out of the car and make her way up the stairs.

Gabriella had never been here before in the little time that she had lived in Albuquerque, and was quite impressed as she went through the glass doors at the entrance. She knew a few of her friend's families came here a lot. Troy had told her about it and promised he'd bring her some day. Now he wouldn't have to.

She felt a little rumble in her stomach and realized that she was both nervous and hungry at the same time. She was meeting her boyfriend's family. She couldn't really believe it because this had never happened before.

As she looked around the nice foyer, she felt more and more nervous. A slight breeze came over her when the door opened and she turned to see if it was Ben coming through it. She was shocked to see someone who she hadn't expected at all.

"Gabby?" Apparently he had seen her first.

"Hey Troy. What are you doing here?" she asked her friend.

"I'm having lunch with my parents. We do it every once and a while to stay connected." He nudged his head back towards his parents, who had apparently been sitting on one of the couches, having an intense discussion about something and hadn't noticed their son's friend. "Mom, Dad, I'm here." He called to them and they both snapped their heads towards their son. They came over and greeted him happily. Gabriella stood awkwardly to the side, wondering what was taking Ben so long.

"Gabriella!" she heard Troy's mom's happy voice suddenly. "How are you dear?"

"I'm fine thanks." She responded politely.

"Troy you didn't tell us you were bringing a friend." Diane turned back to her son. "Not that we mind, Gabriella." She added to the girl.

Troy needed to clear this up "Actually mom I didn't bring…"

He was interrupted when door opened again. "Hey guy's, I see you've met my girlfriend." Ben said happily and watched as the four people's faces in front of him turned to shock.


	8. I'm Fine

**Wow, sorry guys. I've gotten behind on this. Here's the next bit.**

**Chapter 8: "I'm fine."**

There was a silence. A deep, heavy silence that she couldn't stand. She wanted something to break it. Right now, before she died of the agony.

"Excuse me son?" Jack Bolton finally said something.

"Remember I told you I had a surprise for you all?" Ben told him. "Well this is it. I want you to meet my girlfriend, Gabriella Montez."

"Yes dear we know Gabriella." Diane responded.

Ben looked confused. "You do?" he asked. He looked at Gabriella, who looked as if she might die.

"Yes, she's a good friend of Troy's actually." his Diane told him.

"What?" Ben couldn't believe it. "Gabby?" he needed an explanation.

"Don't look at me I'm so confused." She told him. She braved looking at Troy but he still seemed to be getting over the initial shock.

"So am I." he said after a moment. There was a bit of an edge to his voice. Gabriella noticed right away and knew this wasn't going to be good.

Diane put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Sweetie I'm sorry about this, we're just a little shocked, because well… we figured Troy would be bringing Gabriella to lunch one day. It's just a little unexpected."

Gabriella couldn't help but notice that obviously Troy's parent's were rooting for a relationship to happen too. She felt her cheeks turn red. She wasn't sure what to do, this had already been so much to take in over five minutes. "Um…" she started.

"I need to go…" Troy breathed out suddenly and turned quickly, luckily the door wasn't far away, but that didn't stop Gabriella from going after him.

"Troy come back!" she called to him, running as fast as she could in her heels. "Come on please? Can we just figure this out?"

He stopped and turned on her. She took a step back so that they weren't as close. "What exactly do you want to figure out?" he asked, the edge in his voice was still there. "Because I think it's pretty simple, you're going out with my brother!" he sounded angry.

She froze for a minute. She had assumed that's what was going on here, but to hear him tell her right out made it so real. "Troy Bolton you have no right to be angry at me, especially since you never told me you even had a brother." She shot back.

"Well now you know." he was being stubborn and he knew it.

"Look, if I could change what just happened I would, but I can't so we have to deal with it okay?" she told him. He stayed silent. "Troy come on." She tried to stay confident but was having trouble.

"Do you love him?" he suddenly asked, shocking her.

Gabriella couldn't believe that. "I… I don't know Troy." She managed to get out. Did that matter right now?

He sighed. That wasn't a yes or a no. Which meant that Gabriella Montez, _his _Gabriella, might be in love with his brother.

Now that Gabriella thought about it, she wanted to get away as much as Troy had a moment ago. This was simply because she realized that Troy had always been this open possibility. Someone who she could turn to and would understand her and love her. Never had he been her boyfriend's brother.

Obviously that had been a mistake since he was now walking across the parking lot. She let him go, completely confused as to what had just happened.

There was something wrong with this picture. Why didn't Troy ever tell her that he had a brother? Why had it never come out after all this time? She hadn't been able to ask him, he hadn't stayed long enough. Now she wasn't sure what to do. She figured she should probably just go home. She knew she couldn't go back in there.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed her sister's number, knowing that she wouldn't ask questions.

"Hello?" Jasmine's voice came over the line.

"Jaz. I need you to come get me at the country club." She heard herself saying.

She heard her sister sigh in annoyance. "Gabby, isn't there someone else who can go get you?" she asked.

Gabriella was slightly shocked at this. "I don't know. Can you just come please? Things are…. really messed up right now." She felt tears burn into her eyes but refused to let them fall.

Jasmine could tell she was upset. "Are you okay? What's wrong, I thought you were just going to lunch with Ben and his family."

"I know. I'll explain later." She told her sister.

"Alright." Jaz agreed finally. "I'll be there in five minutes."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy had driven home quickly. He had opened the front door, ran up the large staircase, gone to his room and slammed the door. Then he hadn't known what to do. He sat on his bed and soon found himself lying there thinking.

This wasn't supposed to happen. That's just the way it was. Troy knew that he shouldn't have left. He pictured Gabriella's confused face and knew that he should have at least explained. Really, it wasn't her fault at all and now she was probably blaming herself. He just couldn't help but be upset though.

His cell phone rang, and he thought of not answering it, but figured he should probably see who it was.

"Sharpay." He said to himself. Why was she calling? "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Troy, you coming over soon?" she asked right away.

The sleepover thing. He had forgotten all about it. "I don't know…" he said. He really wasn't in the mood for everyone right now.

"What do you mean?" she was a little shocked, he could tell from her voice.

"I don't know I've kind of….had a weird day." He used the only explanation he could come up with.

"Well come over, you'll feel so much better I promise." Sharpay told him.

He couldn't help but agree with her on that. Maybe going over to the Evan's place would let him forget about this for a bit. "Alright, I'll be there in like twenty minutes." He told her.

"Perfect." Sharpay was happier now. "Toodles." She hung up. Troy shook his head. It always freaked him out a bit, how perky she always was. But she was a good friend.

While he threw some stuff into a bag, he thought more about what had just happened at the club. Then a thought came to mind. Gabriella might be there tonight. But would she? He wasn't so sure, and figured that she would probably come up with some clever excuse.

When he had finally made it out to his car, and was driving along to the Evan's, he called his dad to let him know he was going.

"Hi Troy." His dad knew who it was of course.

"Hey, I'm going to that thing at the Evan's place, so I'll be gone for the night." Troy informed him, concentrating on the road.

"Alright." His dad agreed. "Are you okay son?"

Troy gripped the steering wheel a little harder. "I'm fine, I don't really want to talk about it right now." He told his dad seriously.

His dad sighed over the line. "Okay, well, have fun."

"Bye." Troy hung up and threw his phone onto the seat beside him, concentrating back on the road.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So Ben is Troy's brother?" Jasmine asked. Fifteen minutes later, she had picked up Gabriella from the club and had listened carefully while she told her what had just happened.

"Yeah." Gabriella replied. "I think so….I'm not really sure actually. Troy left before I could even get an explanation." She sighed.

"A mystery brother…that's twisted." Jasmine thought aloud.

"Tell me about it." Gabriella looked out the window, trying to piece things together in her mind while she watched the scenery fly by. There was just such a huge gap, she didn't understand. How had she never known?

"So you didn't go and talk to Ben then?" Jaz asked.

"I just couldn't bring myself to." Gabby sighed again.

They pulled up to a stoplight, and Jasmine looked at her little sister. "You know Gabby, if Troy didn't tell you about his brother, there's obviously a good reason for it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well maybe there's a reason he didn't tell you anything." She explained. "You can't know everything about someone."

Gabby thought about that for a long moment. "Well I'd ask him but he doesn't seem to want to talk to me." She said sadly.

"Maybe you don't have to ask him then." Jaz pointed out. "Maybe there's someone else.

It took a moment for Gabby to get what she was trying to tell her. Then a look of understanding spread across her face. "I know Jaz, I just can't go back there." She nearly whispered. She couldn't go back and talk to Ben.

Jasmine didn't say anything for the rest of the ride home. When they got there, Gabriella immediately went up to her room, ignoring her mom's question about how it went.

Her cell started ringing again. She felt terrible because Ben had been trying to call her. She hadn't answered. This time though, the screen didn't read his name, it read Sharpay's.

"Hey Shar." She answered it.

"Hey, when are you planning on coming?" Sharpay asked immediately.

"What?"

"The movie marathon sleepover thing." Sharpay reminded her.

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Gabriella couldn't believe she had forgotten. Her head had been so full of other things.

"Are you okay Gabby? You sound kind of upset."

Gabriella sat down on her bed. "I'm fine." She told her.

"Okay, well will we be seeing you soon?" Sharpay asked.

She thought for a minute. Did she want to see her friends right now? Would the party cheer her up a bit and maybe help her figure everything out? She wasn't sure.

"Troy's coming in a while." Sharpay went on. "Maybe you can cheer him up, he sounded a little odd too."

"He's going to your place?" Gabriella was a little shocked.

"Yeah, why's that surprising?" Sharpay sounded confused.

"Um, no reason. You know what, I'm coming as soon as I can okay, I just have to pack my stuff." Gaby told her.

"Great! See you soon!" Sharpay said happily before hanging up.

Gabriella went to her cupboard and grabbed an overnight bag. She found some clothes and stuffed them in, as well as pajamas and everything else she would need. She slung it on her shoulder and went downstairs.

"Mom I'm going to Sharpay's now." She told her mom.

"Alright dear." Lisa Montez hugged her younger daughter goodbye. "Is everything alright? You don't seem yourself."

"I'm fine mom." She told her. "Ill see you tomorrow."

With that, she made her way back out to her car. So Troy was going to the Evan's too. That still seemed weird to her. But now that she knew he was going, she was determined to talk to him. She was going to get some answers.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

So far Troy hadn't been able to shake his mood. Chad, Ryan, Sharpay, Zeke and Taylor had all tried to see what was up with him. They had given up after he had insisted that he was fine.

Sharpay was in the kitchen grabbing some snacks. Taylor and Chad were helping her. "Okay guys, what is with Troy?" Sharpay finally came out.

The girls both looked at Chad, who put his hands up and shrugged. "Don't look at me, I have no idea." He told them.

Taylor sighed. "Maybe when Gabriella gets here she'll know what's going on or what to do.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. The three of them left the kitchen and went to the door to let Gabby in.

"Hey guys," she stepped in. she gave them a smile that looked so forced. There was obviously something wrong with her too. "Sorry I'm late."

"Everything okay?" Chad asked her.

She wasn't sure how to answer. "I'm fine." She gave the same answer they had heard from Troy several times.

"What do you know…." Chad muttered, shaking his head a bit, Taylor nudged him.

Sharpay linked her arm into Gabriella's. "Actually you're here in perfect timing, because we haven't really gotten much out of Troy, so we needed you."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Gabriella was being dragged towards the living room. She wanted to turn back.

Too late. "Hey guys look who's here!" Sharpay announced to the room.

They all looked happy to see Gabriella. Except for of course, Troy who looked a little shocked to see her there. He didn't think she would come at all.

"Here Gabby sit down." Sharpay practically pushed her into the empty space on the couch beside Troy. "There. We'll go and finish getting snacks." She turned away with Chad and Taylor.

"I'll come help." Gabriella started to get up.

"No." Taylor said almost forcefully. "You just got here, relax."

Gabriella had no choice but to sit on the couch beside Troy, who, last time she had seen him, had been practically yelling at her. She didn't say anything to him, and he seemed to barely acknowledge her presence.

Finally Sharpay, Taylor and Chad came back into the room with tons of food. They threw on a movie, which was a perfect excuse for Troy and Gabriella to not talk.

Two movies later, the food was all gone, it really hadn't been enough for nine teenagers, a majority of them being guys.

"I guess I'll get more food, anyone want to come?" Sharpay got up from where she was sitting with Zeke.

Gabriella had an idea. She nearly jumped up from the couch. "Actually Shar, how about Troy and I go." She suggested.

Sharpay was silent for a moment, but then she got a look from Taylor, and knew that Gabby had a plan. "Alright, sounds good." Sharpay shrugged and sat back down.

Before Troy could resist, Gabriella had grabbed his hand and was dragging him off the couch. Instead of going to the kitchen, she walked him down the hall, looking in every door and finally finding a room that looked like the Evan's own private library, with books lining the walls, and a table in the middle with big comfortable chairs.

She turned to Troy and caught his eyes. "We need to talk." She said seriously.

"You got that right."


	9. The Truth About The Boltons

**Alright, here you go. I'm hoping this chapter explains everything. Enjoy and tell me what you think! **

**Chapter 9: The Truth About The Bolton's**

_She turned to Troy and caught his eyes. "We need to talk." She said seriously._

"_You got that right." _

There was a silence. "Ben is your brother." She started. It felt weird saying it.

"And you're his girlfriend." Troy finished, not helping at all.

Gabriella sighed. "Troy, come on." She told him. "You can be stubborn and refuse to talk to me, but that's not going to fix anything at all." She looked at him, waiting for an answer, but he just stood there. She finally got fed up with waiting. "Okay, obviously I wasted my time trying." She turned to go, giving up.

Troy didn't understand why he was being so stupid. When she turned to go, he reached out and grabbed her arm. "Hold on." He said, she looked over her shoulder. "There are things that I need to tell you." He sighed.

"Okay." She calmed down a bit. He let go of her, and her arm felt cool where his hand had been.

Troy took a deep breath. "Okay well, I know that I've never told you about having a brother." He told her.

"Why did you keep it from me?" she asked, confused.

He looked serious. "I swear, Gabriella, there is nothing I have ever purposely kept from you. I just don't really talk about Ben at all really." He told her. She couldn't really figure out anything to say to that, so she just waited for him to go on. "We used to be so close when we were little. We're only a year apart so we'd constantly be at it, playing, fighting, everything." He remembered. "Then we slowly started to drift apart. He was always at football practice and I was always at basketball." Troy leaned against the table behind him. "My dad's always loved basketball, and Ben just hated how he seemed to be so obsessed with me because I played. It went the other way around too. My mom always seemed to be so proud of Ben." He stopped to gather his thoughts.

"So what happened?" Gabriella asked quietly.

Troy sighed. "Well, we were like two separate families. I was my dad's son and Ben was my mom's. That's just the way it was. It was hard for them to keep us all together. So when they got divorced, Ben and I blamed each other."

"That's why you're not close now." Gabby gathered.

"Yeah." He bit his lip. "I stayed with my dad. I had always been so excited to go to East and be on his team. He was excited too. Ben went with my mom to the other side of the city, where she always wanted to live. He even took her name, Montgomery."

She breathed out. That's why she hadn't clued in at all. They had different last names. "How come you never talk about it?" she asked, almost wanting to cry at the story he'd just told her.

Troy shrugged. "It's just one of those things that is like a big dark cloud." He told her. "I'd rather just stay away from it."

She nodded. "I understand." She said.

They fell silent again. So what now? Gabriella bravely stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. He seemed a little shocked at first, having her arms around him, but then he relaxed and hugged her back.

"I'm sorry Troy." She whispered. It was so quiet that he just barely heard her.

They pulled apart. Her looked at her again. She didn't look frustrated anymore. "So what are you going to do?" he asked.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The rest of them had been sitting in the living room, each of them desperately wondering what was going on in the kitchen. Right now they were silent, waiting for one of them to break out and say it.

"Can anybody else not stop hoping that what we've been waiting to see for so long might be happening this very minute?" Taylor finally broke.

"Definitely." Sharpay answered with a little giggle.

"Woah guys hold your horses." Chad interrupted them. "As much as we're all thinking that's what's going on right now, did either of you guys see them?" he pointed out. "They were both obviously upset about something. I mean, they haven't even looked or talked to each other for the past three hours. That is just _not_ normal."

"He's right." Kelsi shrugged. "Maybe it's not a good thing that's happening, maybe there's something wrong."

"I say we go find out then." Sharpay got up. "Who's coming?" She looked at her friends, who were a little surprised at her sudden action. Should they be going to spy on their friends? They all hesitated, but slowly, one by one, they all got up and joined her. Sharpay smiled. "Good. Now no one make a sound." She made a zipper like action across her mouth and led them all towards the kitchen.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What do you mean, what am I going to do?" Gabriella looked at Troy, all of her confusion back.

He shuffled a little. "About Ben." He cleared up.

She hadn't thought about this. How was she going to fix what had happened today? "I…I don't know." she said. "I guess I should talk to him."

Troy apparently wasn't pleased with this. "Then what? We just forget about this?"

"I don't know Troy, what do you want me to do?" she felt herself getting frustrated with him again. He could be so stubborn sometimes. It took forever to get anything out of him.

He crossed his arms. "I don't care. Whatever you want." The edge he had in his voice earlier at the club was back. So much for the okay conversation they had just had.

Gabby realized that like many things in life, this was not fair. She'd unknowingly stumbled into a complicated family. She hadn't predicted any of this. If she could have avoided it, she would have. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know Troy had a brother, or that Ben was his brother. But now she had to fix it. A mess she'd made without even knowing.

Her cell phone started ringing again inconveniently. She slipped it out of her pocket, just enough to see the name. Troy could tell from her face who it was. The ringing stopped just as unexpectedly as it had started.

"So what are you going to do?" Troy asked again.

She couldn't believe him. "I don't know Troy, okay? I don't know. I didn't plan this or want this, so stop looking at me and talking to me like I made some huge mistake. I didn't mean for this to happen, and now you and your brother can't stop bothering me." She found herself raising her voice. "Just let me figure it out first." She let out a deep breath before turning and leaving, slamming the door behind her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The kitchen was completely silent and empty. No sign of Troy or Gabriella.

"Great they're somewhere in the giant mansion." Taylor said sarcastically, leaning against the doorframe.

Sharpay shook her head. "Come on, now we have to find them." She pulled Taylor away.

They all started off down the halls, deciding to go in different directions so that they could cover more of the house. Kelsi, Jason and Zeke went upstairs, while the other four of them went through the halls downstairs.

Taylor and Chad were halfway down one of the hallways when they heard a voice. Then they heard another one, which they could tell belonged to Gabriella because it was so loud. She was yelling. They stopped for a moment, thinking that this probably wasn't the best idea.

But then, a door a little ways down flew open and Gabriella came out. She slammed the door behind her and started running towards them. She didn't even look at them though as she passed, she just kept going.

Chad and Taylor exchanged glances. "Okay you go see if he's in there and I'll follow her." Taylor told him. He nodded silently and they split up.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella went out the front door and felt the cool air hit her skin. She sighed, calming herself down a bit, and sat down on the paved front steps of the Evan's house. She took out her phone and put it in her lap. She had to do this.

Carefully she picked it up and dialed the familiar number. "Hello?" she heard after a few rings.

"Hey it's me." She told her boyfriend.

"Gabby." She hard Ben sigh, "Where have you been?"

She rubbed her arm. "I had to figure out a few things before I could talk to you." She told him truthfully.

"Oh. Okay." He said.

"Troy explained everything." She said. She felt a stab of guilt that she had gone to Troy first. "About your family." She said when he didn't respond.

"Gabriella, is there something going on between you and my brother?" Ben surprised her with his question.

Was there? She really didn't know how to answer that question. "I…" she swallowed. "I've never really been sure." She told him.

She heard a sigh. "So what now then?" Ben asked.

"I think….I'm going to need some time."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Chad stepped into the library and saw leaning on the dark wooden table that sat in the middle. He was rubbing his face, so he didn't see his friend come in.

"Hey man, everything okay?" Chad asked.

Troy looked a little caught. "Uh…yeah. It's fine." Troy told him.

"I think you're about to set the world record of saying the word 'fine' the most times in one day." Chad commented. He regretted it a moment later.

"Things are just complicated right now." Troy snapped.

Chad sighed. "Okay man, just trying to help." He shrugged and turned to leave.

Okay, that was the second time he had done that today. Troy couldn't believe himself. He didn't want Chad upset with him too. "No wait Chad, I'm sorry." He got him to stay. "I just kind of messed something up with Gabriella…" he looked down at his feet.

"Yeah she passed us on her way out." Chad told him.

"So you heard the end of that?" Troy winced when Chad nodded silently.

"So what happened with you guys then? Chad braved to ask.

Troy thought about it for a moment. Chad was the only one who knew about his family. He had kept his secret all these years. "Today I found something out about Gabriella's boyfriend." He told him.

"What is it?" Chad needed to know.

"Chad, Ben is her boyfriend." Troy told him, the reality finally coming to him.

"What?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella was coming inside when she ran into Taylor and Sharpay, who were deep in a discussion, but stopped when they saw her.

"Hey Gabby." Sharpay came over to her.

"Oh, Hi guys." Gabriella gave them a weak smile. She was putting her cell phone into her pocket while she walked.

"So listen," Taylor said carefully. "I couldn't help but overhear your little blowout in the library…"

"Yeah…" Gabby didn't say much.

"Is everything okay?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella pushed some of her hair behind her hair. "Um, not exactly" she told them. "But I don't really want to talk about it anymore. Can we just forget about it for tonight?" she looked upset, and neither of her best friends wanted to push it any further.

"Alright." Taylor hugged her. "Let's go."

Gabriella let them drag her off to do whatever they wanted. Today had not been a good day at all. But now it all came to her as if she had run into a brick wall. There was more than one Bolton.


	10. Monday Blues

**Chapter 10: Monday Blues.**

For the rest of the weekend, Gabriella had kept to herself. She hadn't talked to her friends, Ben, or even Jasmine and her mom. She lay on her bed for hours just thinking, and trying to come up with some sort of solution.

She had _yelled_ at Troy, which was something she didn't think she was capable of doing, to anyone for that matter. But she had done it anyways, and hadn't spoken to him since. For the rest of the night at the Evan's on Saturday night, they seemed to have stayed separate from each other. Their friends obviously knew something was going on.

During free period on Monday morning, Taylor and Gabriella were sitting in the library doing some studying. They were the only two of the group, since Sharpay and Ryan had some theatre set thing to do, and Kelsi was writing music while watching the rest of the guys practice basketball.

Gabriella had barely said a word all day. Taylor kept trying to make conversation, but Gabby just answered simply instead of trying to keep a conversation going. Finally, Taylor decided to just go for it.

"Gabby, are you okay?" she asked gently.

Gabriella shrugged. "I guess not the greatest." There was no point in lying. "It takes a while to cheer yourself up when you lose a good friend and a boyfriend in one day." She added.

Taylor didn't know the full story about what had happened on Saturday, but she and Sharpay had been figuring out little bits of it. So far they had gathered that Troy and Gabriella weren't talking to each other, and that Gabby and her boyfriend were sort of broken up. Nevertheless, Gabriella was definitely feeling the pain of having pretty much lost the two main men in her life.

Taylor couldn't stand it. It was time to do something about this. She had no way of talking to Ben, but she knew _exactly_ where to find Troy.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy hadn't been able to get that conversation out of his head. He felt horrible. He was getting sick of feeling like that too. It seemed to be going on for days.

He had been either at Chad's house, or in his room for the rest of the weekend. He had avoided his dad, knowing that he would want to talk. He wasn't in the mood for any more talks.

Chad noticed that his friend was being silent again while they sat at lunch, waiting for everyone to join them. "Troy stop thinking about it." He told him.

"I'm not thinking about it." Troy muttered.

"Mhm…" Chad said, unconvinced.

Troy sighed and picked at the crust of his sandwich. "I can't help it." He shrugged.

Chad shook his head, and was about to say something else when the rest of their friends started sitting down.

"Hey guys." Sharpay greeted for all of them. "Where are Taylor and Gabby?" she asked, seeming a little cold today. Troy had only one guess why.

"Good question." Chad told her. Troy didn't even attempt to respond.

"Uh…don't look now," Zeke told them all, sounding a little scared. "But Taylor is coming our way and doesn't look very happy."

Chad, Troy and the rest of the table all turned their heads, and sure enough, there was Taylor, coming towards them with a lunch tray in hand. She stopped at the edge of the table.

"Hey Tay." Chad smiled at his girlfriend hopefully.

She ignored him, slammed her lunch onto the red table, and focused her attention onto Troy.

"Okay listen Bolton." She told him seriously. "I don't know what you did to Gabriella, or what she did to you. All I know is that the two of you aren't talking and that my best friend is outright broken because she lost her boyfriend and _friend_. In one day." She went on. "So I'm not asking you to apologize or even be nice, but can you _please_ just go and talk to her, because I am sick of it." She finished and stared him down.

Troy didn't take that well. Though he did take particular interest in the part where she had mentioned Gabby losing Ben. "You are aware that Gabriella stormed out on _me_ the other day right?" he matched her glare.

Taylor sighed in frustration. "I don't care!" she told him. "You're a big boy, go and do something about it! One of you has to do something about it!"

"Well your concern is heartwarming, but I think I'll pass." Troy crossed his arms stubbornly. He got the glare of a very angry looking girl. Actually, more than one, since Sharpay seemed to have joined Taylor. "Okay, okay fine!" he got up, knowing he wasn't going to win this. "I'll go find her, happy?"

"Yes." Taylor told him. She watched him walked through the crowd of students, obviously not the happiest after that little confrontation. "God, they're a match made in heaven." She told the silenced lunch table and rolled her eyes. "It's impossible to get them to just _talk_!"

"Tell me about it." Chad shook his head in disbelief.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella wasn't hungry, so she had stayed in the library for a while, figuring she'd just sit there pretending to be studying until lunch was over. After ten minutes she had gotten completely fed up and had decided to just walk around. The halls were almost completely empty anyways, since everyone was outside or in the cafeteria eating lunch.

She could hear the clicking of her kitten heels hitting the floor. She looked down briefly, watching her steps while she turned the corner. She didn't realize that was a stupid mistake, since a moment later she banged right into someone.

"Sorry." She whipped her head up to see who it was.

"Ow, Gabriella, geez." She watched in horror as Troy covered his face. "You got me in the nose."

"Oh my god Troy I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." She winced, she had the best luck didn't she?

"Yeah, I figured." He muttered.

She ignored his bitter sounding comment. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." He brought his hands away from his nose.

Gabby tried not to look disgusted. "Um, actually I think you better come with me." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to where she knew there was a bathroom.

He halted when he saw where she was leading him. "Uh, no. I don't think so." He told her as if she was crazy.

She turned to him with a look on her face that he didn't know what to think of. "Okay, well I was only trying to help you, but if you'd rather have blood all over you then go ahead." She shrugged and let go of his arm.

"What?" he lifted a hand to his nose and looked at it. His face paled when he saw the blood.

She looked a little shocked at his reaction. "Troy?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"I think I'm going to be sick." He informed her.

Gabby's eyes widened. "You're kidding me…" she sighed. He shook his head wildly. "Oh my god, come on." She grabbed the hand that wasn't covered in blood and dragged him into the bathroom. "Sit." She pointed to the counter, and he did what she said. "And just don't look in the mirror okay?" She got some paper towel and handed it to him to put on his nose, then she turned on the tap and grabbed his hand which was covered in blood.

Troy was slightly amazed. Two days ago she had been livid with anger and now she was cleaning him up like a little kid. Though he wasn't quite sure where they stood as friends, it was comforting to know that she obviously cared for him enough to do this.

Gabriella gently rubbed the blood off of Troy's hand, careful not to hurt him more. She didn't look up even though she knew he was watching her. She just couldn't bear to meet those blue eyes, since she wouldn't know what to say.

When it was all off, she carefully patted it dry with paper towels. Then she took a few more and dampened them, finally turning back to him. "How is it?" she asked Troy, he still looked pale.

"Not sure." He moved the paper towels he was holding on his nose a bit. "I think it's done." He brought them away. He saw her face change. "What?"

"Uh… let me just…" she took the dampened bunch of towels in her hand and lifted them to his face. She wiped away the blood that had smeared, biting her lip in concentration and trying hard not to catch his eyes.

She let out the tiniest little laugh. "I can't believe you're scared of blood." She said more to herself then him. She'd never known that before. He could watch the goriest movies and not even flinch, while she'd be burying her face into a pillow. She accidentally caught his eye, which she knew instantly was a mistake. She concentrated back on cleaning him up.

His hair had been getting long and was in his face. Without thinking, she lifted her other hand and pushed it away, out of his eyes, which she refused to look into again.

"There." She breathed out. She put the dirty bunch of paper towels down on the counter beside him, and suddenly realized how close together they were. She was standing between his legs, which were hanging from the edge of the counter, his shoes just brushing up against her shins.

There was silence, where all that they could hear was each other's breathing. Then, when Troy knew he couldn't stand it anymore, he slipped a hand behind her neck and pulled her in the rest of the way, connecting their lips.

Gabriella's hand fell to his knee. She let the kiss happen for a moment, but then pulled away in shock. She caught his eyes this time, his shocked face must have matched hers.

She slowly backed away, trying desperately to think of something to say. "Um…I'll….see you in rehearsal." Was all she could come up with. She turned and practically ran out of the bathroom. Troy didn't follow her, too shocked at what had just happened. Had he really just kissed her? He looked down at his jeans and saw a droplet of blood on the knee. Yep, it was _all_ true.


	11. Confusing, Complicated, Disastrous

**Hey! Okay so here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. **

**Chapter 11: confusing, complicated, disastrous**

Troy was in the gym, shooting some hoops and trying to clear his head. He hadn't attempted to find Gabriella. He hadn't gone back to the cafeteria, knowing his friends would interrogate him about how things were with her.

Truthfully, things seemed to just get more and more complicated every time they ran into each other. Now he wasn't even sure what to think. He heard one of the gym's heavy doors open and close. It was followed by footsteps.

"Well if it isn't my son." He heard his dad say in mock disbelief.

The ball bounced towards him and he picked it up, turned to his dad. "Hey." He said distractedly. He turned to shoot again and missed.

"You're not focused." His dad commented. "I think I can guess why."

Troy sighed and grabbed the ball again, walking over to the bench and sitting down beside his dad. He might as well let him in, he couldn't avoid it now. "Yeah…" he traced the lines of the orange ball with his finger.

"Listen Troy, I love you and your brother equally, but I can't deny that I was shocked on Saturday."

"Yeah that seemed to be the shared reaction." Troy nodded.

"Have you talked to Gabriella?" Jack asked hopefully. He hoped his son was dealing with this okay.

"Uh… yeah." Troy almost shuddered as he remembered back to Saturday, and the huge fight they had gotten into. "I had to explain everything to her. It was…"

"Hard?" his dad finished for. Troy nodded, staring down at his hands. This conversation wasn't so bad. His dad really understood him. "I'm sure she understood." He gathered.

"Yeah, of course she did." Troy replied. "But then things just got messed up from there."

"What happened?"

Troy shifted uncomfortably. "I kind of freaked her out." He said after a moment. "I wanted to know what she was going to do. I think I pushed it a bit far." He sighed.

"Didn't go to well?" Jack asked sympathetically.

"You could say that." Troy gave him a weak smile.

His dad patted him on the back. "You'll figure it out." He told him comfortingly.

Troy just nodded, seeming to go a little pale. "Yeah I guess…" he sighed, absentmindedly playing with the ring on his finger.

"Is there something else bugging you?" Jack figured it out right away. He knew him all too well.

Troy heard himself confess to his dad before he could really even think about it. "Today…we kissed." He said. "Well, it was more kind of me kissing her, but…" he rubbed his face in frustration.

His dad was surprised. "Okay, now I understand why you're so distracted." He sighed. "That's complicated." He added.

"Tell me about it." Troy sighed too. He looked down at the little drop of dried blood on his jeans, remembering what had just happened. "I didn't mean to." He told his dad. "It just sort of…happened. I didn't even think. But I don't think I'm going to be able to forget about it." He admitted.

His dad looked at him for a moment. "Troy, you might not follow this piece of advice, but I'll give it to you anyways." He told his son. "If you feel that way about Gabriella, don't keep it in anymore, tell her. She deserves to know. It might make things more complicated, but you'll just have to take a risk."

Troy nodded to let him know he understood. He thought about it. Was he willing to risk the safe friendship him and Gabriella had? Had he already done it earlier that day? He tossed the basketball up slightly and caught it, biting his lip in thought.

"Alright, I'd better get going." Jack Bolton patted Troy on the back again standing up from the bench. He took the ball from his son's hands. "I'll take this, you better get to class." He told him.

Troy stood up too, knowing his dad was right. "Thanks dad." He told him before leaving, feeling like he had a load off of his chest, and something to do before the day was over.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Hey Gabby, didn't see you at lunch." Sharpay strolled down the hall beside her friend.

"Uh, yeah." Gabriella replied. "I wasn't really hungry." She lied, knowing that Sharpay would see straight through that.

"Oh, so did you spend it alone, or did you see anyone? Sharpay asked. "Like a friend, maybe?" she added.

Gabby was smart enough to know that Sharpay was trying to get something out of her. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold it in. She felt like some sort of ticking time-bomb. "Uh…no. I didn't do anything." She said finally. "Why?"

Sharpay gave her a sweet smiled. "Oh no reason." She told her. "But um, Troy didn't find you did he? I think he went to look for you."

Okay, she knew, what was the point in hiding it anymore? Gabriella sighed. "I did see him." She told her. Sharpay was immediately interested. "Actually I ran into him. Literally. And my head hit his nose, and his nose started bleeding." She was spewing out the story now, desperate to just open up.

"You gave him a bloody nose?" Sharpay hadn't expected that.

Gabby blushed. "Yes, by accident. I felt horrible."

"So then what happened?" Sharpay asked interestedly.

"Uh…I dragged him into a bathroom so he could get cleaned up, but he's scared of blood, so I kind of had to do it for him…" she trailed off.

Sharpay let out a little laugh. "Troy Bolton is scared of blood?" she asked.

"Yeah." Gabby couldn't help but smile at that. "It was sort of cute now that I think about it." She added.

"So you cleaned him up?" Sharpay got back onto her story.

"Yeah." Gabriella nodded.

"And…"

Gabriella turned serious again. She turned to Sharpay and looked at her before saying a word. "Sharpay you can't tell anyone this." She said seriously.

Sharpay nodded. "I promise I wont."

"Okay." Gabriella took a breath to calm down a bit. "Then, he kissed me." She felt weird saying that.

"What?" Sharpay nearly dropped her books. "Are you being serious?"

Gabriella nodded slowly. "Everything just went from confusing to complicated ." She sighed for the millionth time that day.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sharpay was terrible when it came to secrets. She tended to accidentally let things slip. This tie though, she had sworn to herself that she would tell no one. Only because Gabriella had seemed so desperate to tell someone, but at the same time, didn't want anyone to know.

This was harder then she thought it would be. Especially when she was sitting in a class that had her entire group of friends, except Troy and Gabriella. Unfortunately for Sharpay, their teacher was giving them a study period for their test the next day and she had been pulled over to a large table with her friends.

"Hold on, wait until Sharpay decides to clue in." she heard Chad comment sarcastically.

She glared across the table at him. "Sorry." She muttered, opening her books, but finding her mind already going off track again.

"What's up Sharpay?" Zeke could tell there was something on her mind.

Sharpay thought about her discussion with Gabriella, and how she had promised that she wouldn't tell anyone what had happened between her and Troy. Then again, she thought, Gabby knows my track record with secrets.

She looked at her friends. "Uh guys? There is something that I can't tell you, but I don't know if I_ can't_." she confessed.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked.

Sharpay shook her head. "I promised Gabby I wouldn't tell…forget about it." She told them.

"Gabby?" they all jumped on the name. They had all, of course been wondering about the strange behavior of both of their friends.

Chad had a different reaction. He knew that what Sharpay had to say might be something that neither Troy nor Gabriella would want them all to know. "Guys maybe we should just drop it." He told them, suddenly serious.

They all ignored him and turned back to Sharpay, she looked a little caught before finally deciding to open her mouth and talk. "Well…" she started. I was walking with Gabriella to class right after lunch, and she seemed to be really bothered by something. I expected one worded answers from her, but…" she swallowed. "I don't know whether it's good or bad, but apparently Troy kissed her." She waited for their reaction.

"Oh my god!" Kelsi, Jason, Zeke and Ryan all said in shock.

"I guess threatening Troy to go and find her worked better then I planned." Taylor looked some what pleased with herself.

"This can't be good." Chad looked up from where he had put his head in his hands."

"What?" Taylor looked at him. Over time, Chad had become the most obsessed with the possibility of Troy and Gabriella. He had become so frustrated with them and denying their feelings. So why wasn't he happy about this?

Chad sighed heavily. "Right now is just really not a good time for that to have happened." He told her.

"Why not? Hasn't it taken long enough?" Sharpay commented.

Chad had no way to explain this to them. So he decided to just let it out, it had to come out sometime anyways. "Okay, Troy is going to kill me for telling you all this, but since Sharpay _had_ to blurt that out, I have no choice."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Something was wrong. Her two amazing breakouts were obviously having some sort of difficulty today. The lines that Troy had finally perfectly memorized last practice had vanished. Gabriella just didn't have her usual flair. When they practiced one of the duets there was just no chemistry. It was awkward and unnatural.

"Stop. Stop. Stop!" Ms. Darbus waved a hand in the air and Kelsi's piano playing halted abruptly. Troy and Gabriella looked tiredly towards their director. "What is going on here people? Where is the spark that usually fills the theatre when you rehearse?" she stared at her two leads, wondering what was going on. One day they were brilliant, the next, completely opposite.

"Sorry Ms. Darbus." Gabriella said quietly. "Do you think we could just have a quick break?" she asked.

Ms. Darbus hated breaks. But there was no point in continuing unless the two of them got their acts together. "Alright fine. Five minutes."

The rest of the cast began to murmur while the two of them walked offstage. Troy caught up to Gabriella on the steps. "Can we talk?" he whispered when he passed her, proceeding to go out the doors on the left.

She figured she couldn't refuse, and maybe she'd get an explanation for what happened earlier. She felt several pairs of eyes follow her out the same door he had left, but could care less. When she got out into the hall, she saw Troy leaning against the lockers a little ways down, apparently waiting for her.

She stood in front of him. "Troy, if this is about earlier, then…"

"Gabriella." He stopped her. He stopped leaning and stood up, which ended up making them closer together. She was waiting for him to speak. "There's something I have to tell you."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sharpay, Kelsi and Ryan were standing at the back of the theatre, near the doors. They were holding themselves back, trying not to attempt overhearing.

Ryan saw a guy that he knew didn't go to East come in the doors on the right side of the theatre. He was looking around for someone, and didn't seem to see them anywhere. When he spotted the threesome standing not far away he came over.

"Hi." Sharpay stepped forward before Ryan could, putting on the attitude she used around cute guys. Ryan just shook his head, used to it after years of living with her.

"Hi, uh, do you know where I could find Gabriella Montez?" the guy asked her.

"Oh! You just missed her actually." Sharpay smiled at him.

Ryan stepped forward, knowing Sharpay wasn;t going to be too much help to this guy. "She's on break, but she went out that way if you want to find her." He pointed to the doors on the left side of the theatre.

"Alright, thanks." The guy nodded an set off towards those doors.

"No problem!" Sharpay waved and gave a small laugh. "My god what a hottie." She muttered to herself.

"Sometimes I wonder if you two share a brain or something." Kelsi rolled her eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ryan took offence.

"It means." Kelsi started, "That neither of you were smart enough to realize who that was." She told him.

"Who was it?" Sharpay had a bad feeling about this.

Kelsi sighed. "Ben." she said simply.

"Troy's brother Ben?" Ryan asked, wide-eyed.

Kelsi nodded. "Yes, Ben, as in Troy's brother. Which means we should be following him through those doors before anything bad happens." She informed them.

The three of them didn't waste one more second standing around. They all turned and headed for the door, hoping to god that something wasn't going to happen.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What is it?" Gabriella stared at him. He was taking too long, they only had five minutes before Ms. Darbus wanted them back on stage.

"Okay, there was a reason why I needed to know so badly what you were going to do, after you found out about everything on Saturday." Troy started. "It made me really realize that kind of came out today." He paused.

Gabriella froze. She knew what was coming what he was about to say. She'd figured it out today too, but she didn't want to hear it. "Troy…"

He decided to go on, despite of the look she was giving him. "Gabby, I know that kiss today wasn't a mistake, and I'm pretty sure you know it too." He told her seriously. "I think I've loved you since the first time we sang together." he kept looking at her. She was frozen in one spot, her chocolate brown eyes wide and still staring at him.

"I need someone to explain to me what is going on." They both heard the voice and turned their heads.

Gabriella could have died. Standing not far down the hall, was Ben. There was not doubt he had heard the tail end of their conversation.

This was _not_ good all. She couldn't even say anything, but she felt herself take a step backwards from Troy, creating some space between them. She didn't look at either of the two brothers.

Suddenly Sharpay, Kelsi and Ryan burst into the hallway, halting when they saw that they were too late to prevent anything.

There was a silence that they couldn't escape. Gabby could feel two sets of blue eyes burning into her, waiting for any kind of response. But between Troy telling her what he just had, and Ben suddenly appearing, she couldn't think of a word to say.

"Oh my god…" she whispered to herself. She would do anything for one of them to say something.

"Troy, what are you doing with my girlfriend?" Ben broke the silence, finally. Which was good, because she didn't have to say anything now. She didn't realize how bad this would get.

"Your girlfriend?" Troy turned towards his brother.

"That's what I said." Ben nodded. They were staring each other down, slowly getting closer and closer.

Troy crossed his arms. "Really, are you sure, because I thought you guys weren't together anymore." He said.

Ben just shrugged. "She said she needed some time. I didn't realize that by being okay with that I would end up hearing what I just did." He shot back.

Gabriella was now wishing that she had been able to come up with something to say, because now she could see she was making an already messed up relationship between brothers even worse. She snapped, she really didn't need a basketball captain and football captain to start any kind of fight.

"Oh my god both of you just shut up!" she stepped forward and pushed the two guys apart. "I don't belong to either of you, okay? So just stop." She was almost yelling. They both looked at her in shocked. She realized just how much they looked alike. Too bad she hadn't noticed that a month ago.

"Well, how do _you _feel then Gabriella. Just tell us so we don't have to do this." Ben spoke after a moment.

How did she feel about them? "I don't know." She shook her head. "I like you both." She told them unhelpfully.

"Gabby, I know this might sound completely insensitive and stupid, but I really think the only solution to this problem is for you to choose." Troy told her.

Ben nodded. "I agree with him." He said.

What? They were both dead serious, she could tell by their faces. She had to choose between brothers.

"I can't right now." She told them when it looked like they were waiting for her to choose right then and there. "I just…I need to think." She added. She knew they couldn't disagree.

"Okay." Troy nodded. Ben sighed.

"Okay." Gabriella repeated and turned to walk away. She didn't care if Ms. Darbus got angry at her for leaving halfway through practice. She just needed to leave all of them, Troy, Ben, and her three friends.

She let out a deep breath. Things had gone from confusing, to complicated, to _disastrous_ in one day.


	12. Just Because It's Friday'

**This chapter is kind of a bit of filler, a little less intense :P. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 12: 'Just because it's Friday'**

Gabriella had driven home and gone straight up to her room when she had gotten there. She ignored her sister telling her that their mother would be home late tonight. She lay on her bed for a while, until she started hearing Jasmine's loud music start to pound through the wall that separated their rooms.

Instead of going over there and shouting at her to turn it off, Gabriella decided to just leave. She needed some fresh air, and her house didn't have any right now.

She sat on the bench in the park, which was ten times better than her bedroom right now. Even though it was a slightly gloomy day, it was quiet and alone, which was exactly what she wanted. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Gabby?" Her eyes snapped open. It was Troy, his bright blue eyes shone out in the gray setting. Maybe she wasn't so alone after all.

"Hi Troy." She felt a nudge at her foot and noticed Troy's big golden retriever, Bear. "Hey Bear." She reached out and pet is head. The dog sniffed her hand before continuing to sniff the ground around the bench. Troy sat down beside her, holding Bear's leash with one hand, and letting him roam around a bit.

"I forgot you walked him a lot." She heard herself saying, just to make any kind of conversation.

"Yeah well he gets pretty hyper when he's inside for too long." Troy told her. She knew this was true, she had even witnessed it herself. Every time you rang the Bolton's front door, Bear would be the first one there. He usually was the first thing you saw when the door opened too.

There was a strange silence. "I feel really stupid." Gabriella finally said.

Troy looked at her. "Why would you say that?" he hadn't expected her to say something so blunt.

She shrugged. "There are just so many things I wish I could have done differently." She said honestly. "Maybe we wouldn't have been in this mess now, If I had just…" she trailed off.

Troy nodded. "I know what you mean. You're not the only one." He replied.

"I just can't stand knowing that someone is going to get hurt." Gabriella went on. "And it is going to be my fault, too." She looked at him. "I couldn't take having either of you hate me because I hurt you." She shook her head slightly as she spoke.

"Gabby I could never hate you." Troy told her. He realized how much had been put on her since Saturday. She really didn't deserve it all. "I'm sorry about the past few days." He added after.

"Don't be sorry." Gabriella couldn't help but smile for the first time all day. "I mean, look where we are now."

Troy knew she was right. No matter how terrible the past few days had been, they had only brought the two of them that much closer to finding their way to each other. Now that possibility was _so _close.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It was Friday, and things had gotten a it better in the few days. There was still some awkwardness between Troy and Gabriella, simply because they were obviously no longer just friends. It changed everything.

Other then that, they were pretty much back to normal. They were both relieved. Their friends were relieved as well. Gabriella tried to spend time with both Troy and Ben, which seemed to take up every night of the week. They both knew she wouldn't be able to decide for a while. Everyone had to just be patient.

Tonight, Gabriella, Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi had decided that it was time for a girls' night. Gabriella had invited them all over, and they had gladly agreed on spending a night away from the boys. When the guys heard their plan, they decided they may as well all get together Friday night too. With no girls they could do whatever they wanted.

At the end of the day, they all walked to the parking lot together. "Okay come on!" Gabby told her three friends. Sharpay and Taylor went to hug their boyfriend's goodbye.

"Take care of her, okay Gabs?" Chad said as he released Taylor.

"Don't worry Chad." Gabriella replied. Both girls rolled their eyes.

Ten minutes later, the small group of girls made their way into Gabriella's house, carrying the bags of stuff they had brought to stay over.

Jasmine came out of the kitchen and smiled at them "Hey girlies." She gave her little sister's friends hugs. They all loved her like she was their own big sister. "Crashing here tonight?"

"Definitly." Sharpay replied.

"Sounds good to me." Jaz said happily. "Oh Gabby, I almost forgot!" she ran into the kitchen quickly and came back in. "This was in our mailbox." She handed Gabriella a little box that had no writing anywhere on it.

"Should I open it?" she asked to no one in particular. She had no idea what it could possibly be.

"Yes!" Taylor said excitedly.

"Okay, okay." Gabby laughed a little, and tore the edges of the paper. Inside of the wrapping there was a box, which she opened to reveal a pretty charm bracelet. "Oh my…" she saw a little piece of paper fall to the floor and picked it up. It read, _Just because it's Friday. _Gabriella instantly knew who it was from. "That is just so him." She shook her head in disbelief.

"So who?" Kelsi asked. Gabriella looked up and saw her three friends and Jaz staring at her expectantly.

"Who gave it to you?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella looked down at the note and bracelet in her hands. "Ben." She told them. They all knew what that meant.

"Someone's turning up the heat." Jasmine commented.

"Jaz!" Gabriella shook her head.

"Let me see it." Sharpay took the bracelet from her hand. "Woah, someone's got good looks _and_ taste." She commented.

"Thank you Shar." Gabby sighed and took the bracelet back.

"What does the note say?" Kelsi asked curiously.

Gabby read it again to make sure. "Just because it's Friday." She read aloud to them. She saw them all exchange glances. "What?"

"You've got yourself some boy, there Gabs." Taylor told her. "Chad would never in a million years think to do this."

Slowly, a smile grew on Gabby's face. "I guess you're right." She looked down at her hand, and saw that the single charm that had been put on the bracelet was a heart. It made her think…

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Meanwhile, the guys were lounging around in Chad's basement, a few of them playing video games, the rest of them half focused on a game playing on the TV.

"Can we please do something else?" Jason was bored. They had been sitting here for hours doing the same thing.

"You know, I have to agree with him there." Troy yawned. "Things are getting a little boring."

"I wonder what the girls are up to…" Zeke said thoughtfully.

"Ah! How is it possible that we can't figure out what to do without the girls?" Chad sighed.

"Who knows?" Ryan just shrugged.

"Okay let's do something then. Let's get out of here for a bit." Chad stood up.

"What do you suggest we do?" Zeke asked.

"Why don't we walk to the video store?" Troy suggested. "Then we can get some movies for later and eat at the diner."

"Sounds good to me." Zeke got up too, the rest of them followed.

They all walked to the video store, which wasn't too far. Chad brought along a basketball, which he usually carried around with him anyways. The guys passed it around and faked shots, playing all the way down the streets.

When they got there, they crossed the parking lot to get to the movie place. They were walking down the rows, when Chad suddenly stopped, halting all of them. "Listen." He whispered so quietly that she was almost mouthing the word.

"Aw that one was so sad!" a girls voice said from the other side of the shelves. She sounded slightly familiar.

"But it was so good, the way he died for her in the end!" Another girl said.

"Let's get it."

"No way, I'm not in the mood for crying guys." A third voice chimed in.

"How about this one?" A fourth voice said. She was obviously a little further away.

"Oh my god I love that one!" the first voice squealed. The guys heard footsteps that led them away.

"One guess who they are." Chad smirked.

"Let's sneak up on them." Jason suggested.

They heard someone clear their throat from behind them. The five guys all turned at the exact same time.

"Look who it is." Sharpay commented, Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi all laughed.

"Too late, they saw us first." Zeke muttered under his breath.

"What are you guys doing here, aren't you supposed to be having your girls night?" Chad asked.

Taylor shrugged. "We need movies, what about you guys?"

"We were bored." Ryan said. He got a nudge from Jason, and Zeke shook his head.

"Uh, yeah. Actually we were going to get something to eat." Troy told their friends. "You guys interested in coming with us?"

The girls exchanged looks. "Sounds good." Gabby shrugged, smiling. "Let's go."

Both groups put the movies back where they had found them and left the video store. They all went over to the diner, instantly mixing back into one large group instead of the way they had been minutes before.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Oh my god, can we please watch something less scary next time?" Sharpay whispered, taking her head out from behind a pillow.

"Yes please." Taylor agreed instantly.

The full group had hung out at the diner for a while, just like they would have on a regular Friday night. Then, instead of leaving separately, like they had come, they had all decided to go back to Chad's to hang out. When they had got there, the guys had all rooted for a scary movie, and had thrown it on before the girls could stop them.

"Uh Gabby…" Troy started.

She jumped, still scared from the movie. "What?" she looked at him.

"I can't feel my hand." Troy said through his teeth. Gabby had grabbed him during some intense part of the movie, and hadn't let go for the rest of time that it was on. Her nails were digging into his hand.

"Oh." Gabriella pulled her hands away. "Sorry."

He shook his hand out a bit. "It's alright." He smiled at her. She had loosened her death grip on him, but was still leaning comfortably into him.

"Okay I'm going upstairs to get something I left here last time." Taylor started getting up and gave Chad a significant look.

"I'll help you look for it… my rooms pretty messy." Chad got up after her and followed her out of the room.

Kelsi rolled her eyes. "They need to come up with better excuses to go and be alone together." She shook her head.

"Tell me about it." Ryan agreed. "Hey is anyone hungry, I'm in the mood for food."

"Please never say that again." Sharpay told her brother. "Zeke's hungry too though, I know because his stomach has been growling for the past little while." She looked at her boyfriend with a smirk, and he just smiled back innocently.

"Let's go then." Jason got up and the four others did the same. He looked back at Troy and Gabriella. "You guys want anything?" he asked.

"I'm good." Troy told him, Gabriella nodded along with that. She was getting pretty tired and didn't really want to move at all. "Tired?" Troy seemed to notice.

Gabriella nodded again. "Exhausted." She shuffled a bit on the couch, getting more comfortable. "How's the hand?" she asked, looking up at him.

Troy smiled. "The feeling is slowly coming back." She laughed at his reply.

"Sorry, I didn't really realize I was doing that." She told him with another small laugh.

"You have quite the death grip Gabs." Troy said, looking down at her.

They were staring at each other again, both knowing what was coming this time. They slowly moved in, keeping eye contact until the very last second. Their lips were just about to meet when their friend's all came bounding back into the basement.

"We have snacks!" Sharpay announced happily. She noticed the two on the couch jump apart a bit. She saw the looks on their faces, both trying to cover up what had obviously almost happened. Way to come at the absolute worst moment.

"Great." Gabby sat up a bit, separating her and Troy's bodies. She fiddled with the bracelet hanging from her wrist. "So what now?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning, the four girls were woken by the smell of pancakes cooking from the kitchen downstairs. Lisa Montez had decided to make her daughter and her friends a nice breakfast. She had obviously been up much earlier then the teenagers, who had definitely slept in since they had gotten home pretty late from Chad's.

"Ms. Montez, these are delicious!" Taylor comented on the pancakes as she stuffed a piece of a blueberry one into her mouth.

Sharpay rolled her eyes at her friend. "Very ladylike, Tay." She said. They all giggled at this. Lisa just shook her head at the girls before leaving them to eat alone. Sharpay turned her attention onto Gabriella. She had been quiet since the night before. "So Gabs, want to tell us about what you and Troy almost did last night?" she asked.

"What?" Gabby asked tiredly.

"Something happened?" Taylor was interested. Kelsi put down her fork concentrate on the conversation taking place.

"No, not really." Gabriella shrugged. She didn't think it was a big deal.

Sharpay raised an eyebrow. "Not really, huh?" she said, noticing that Gabby turned a little red at her words. "Could a choice be coming soon?"

Gabby swallowed carefully and looked at her friends. "No." she said simply. "I've told you this already, it's not going to happen any time soon." She added seriously.

"Okay, okay… just _wondering._" Sharpay sighed dramatically.

There was silence among the girls. They all went back to eating, when suddenly there was a shriek of delight from Taylor.

"What is it?" her three friends all asked instantly.

"These chocolate chip pancakes must be sent from heaven." Taylor said with a full mouth.


	13. Troy's Big Shot

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it!**

**Chapter 13: Troy's big shot.**

The next week, Principal Matsui announced that East High would be hosting an annual basketball tournament that weekend. It would start on Friday and they would all be excused from classes to watch. The games would extend to Saturday and be over by the end of the day. They urged the students to come out and support the Wildcats, hoping that they would come away with another trophy.

Knowing that they were one of the best teams in the league, thee Wildcat's were already planning an after party for the end of the tournament, almost certain that they would be in the finals. Many people from the school would be there, and they were already getting excited about it.

The party wasn't the only thing to get excited about though. There had been rumors around the school about the possibility of a college scout coming to check out the team. Most of all, they were interested in Troy Bolton.

Troy was sitting at the kitchen table the Friday morning, nervously picking at the scrambled eggs his dad had put in front of him.

"Eat." Jack Bolton ordered his son, looking over the top of his newspaper.

"I'm not hungry." Troy muttered, playing with his fork.

His dad put down the newspaper and looked at him seriously. "Look son, I know you're probably nervous, but you're not going to play well if you don't have yourself a good breakfast." He told Troy. "So eat up."

Troy didn't even bother to argue. He knew that his dad was right, so he picked up his fork again and started eating, even though he felt like it might not even stay down.

His dad got up to refill his coffee. "Oh forgot to tell you, your mother is out of town this weekend, so Ben will be here." He informed Troy, who just nodded. Their parent's had decided it would be better to just stay out of whatever was going on between Troy and Ben, not wanting to complicate things anymore. So of course, Jack had no idea that the two were currently competing for Gabriella's heart.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe we're going out there like this." Gabriella laughed as she looked in the mirror in one of the girl's bathrooms of East High. "We look ridiculous."

"It's cute!" Sharpay argued, tying a ribbon at the end of Gabby's hair. "We're spirited okay?" she laughed too.

Gabriella Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi had been planning this all week. Since all of their guy friends but Ryan were on the East basketball team, they had decided that they'd go full out for the tournament.

Now they were getting ready not long before the game was about to start. They had all changed into almost identical outfits. They each wore red and white knee socks, and either red or white shorts or mini skirt with the opposite color on top. They had all put their hair into pigtail braids, tying ribbons into them so that they could be as decked out as possible.

"I think we're done!" Taylor commented, pulling up one of her socks.

"Let's go girls." Kelsi added. The four of them linked arms and left the bathroom, immediately heading for the gym, where noise was already coming from the stands.

"Wow this is big." Gabriella said in awe when they stepped inside. The bleachers were already mostly filled with spectators from a bunch of different schools, all who were participating in the tournament. There was a big red and white section, which the girls headed over to.

"The only thing bigger then the championship game is this tournament." Taylor informed her. "It doesn't mean as much, but apparently the competition is fierce." She added.

"Sounds exciting." Gabby commented.

Taylor shrugged. "Truthfully, I don't think I've ever actually watched any of this tournament, usually I took the day off to study." She laughed. "Oh how things change."

"Hey Gabby, is that Ben?" Kelsi yelled over the noise, pointing over the benches, where Coach Bolton was standing, with a boy standing beside him, looking a little lost.

"Uh…yeah." She replied, feeling confused. Why was Ben here? He didn't like basketball, and she didn't think he would be here to watch Troy play.

Sharpay linked her arm through Gabriella's again. "Let's go say hi." She said happily and started to drag Gabby towards the benches. She had no choice but to follow, since Taylor and Kelsi seemed to think this was a good idea too.

Jack looked over and saw the funny group of girls first. "Hello girls." He greeted his son's friends. "How are you?"

"Fine thanks." Gabriella replied. "Hey Ben." She smiled at him. She had decided that there was no need for this to be awkward.

"Hey." He replied while they hugged. "Nice outfit." He commented with a little smirk.

Gabriella laughed. "They made me do it." She pointed to her friends.

"We wanted to be spirited." Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"Well its very nice to see that Sharpay." Mr. Bolton told her thankfully, she nodded proudly to her friends. "Alright I have to go and sort some things out, you alright here?" he turned and asked Ben.

"I'm good." he replied letting his dad walk away to the change rooms. He looked at Gabriella again. "So…" he started.

"Um… no offence, but what are you doing here?" she asked him, looking a little confused.

Ben shrugged. "My mom's gone, so I'm with my dad for the weekend." He told her. "I don't see him much, so I figured I'd come along when he invited me."

"I see." Gabriella said. She knew it was a good thing if he was trying to spend more time with his dad.

"I didn't realize that I'd be in Troy's domain here." He added.

Gabby smiled. "Why don't you come and sit with us." She offered, understanding that he must be kind of uncomfortable there.

"Yeah come sit with us!" Sharpay said excitedly.

"Oh, uh….I don't know." He began. "You guys probably don't…"

Gabriella shook her head, the pieces of hair that were hanging loose from her braids, flying around hr face. "You don't have a choice." She smirked. "Ben, this is Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi." She introduced him to her friends quickly.

He smiled at them. "I've heard a lot about you guys." He told them nicely.

"Right back at you." Taylor nodded.

"Let's go." Gabby grabbed Ben's arm, and the five of them made their way up the stairs, finally finding where Ryan had saved a large portion of the bench.

He shook his head when he saw the group. "You girls have really outdone yourself this time." He told them.

"Look that must be the scout guy!" Kelsi was excited all of a sudden. They all looked to were she was pointing. In the middle of the court stood Principle Matsui with an official looking guy in a suit. "There's Troy and Mr. Bolton." She added as they all noticed them walking towards the two men.

"He must be so nervous." Sharpay commented while they watched their friend get introduced to the scout.

Taylor nodded. "He'll do great though." She assured everyone. "Troy's the best."

No one disagreed, the excitement of the first game was just to much to bear.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

You did an amazing job today son." Coach Bolton patted Troy on the back at the end of the day on Friday.

Troy couldn't help but feel the same way. He felt like he had played great. He knew he had played great. "Yeah, well let's just hope this guy thinks the same thing." He didn't get his hopes up. College scouts were tough. They were looking for the best of the best.

His dad didn't say anything else to that. They walked the rest of the way in silence. All of Troy's nervousness from that morning came back to him.

Principal Matsui and Mr. Brown, the scout, were in a conversation when they got there. "Ah, here they are." Mr. Matsui noticed them and let their guest know.

Mr. Brown looked Troy over. "Bolton, yes…" he nodded. "I've got to say, those rumors about you aren't lies. You're an excellent player kid." He commented.

"Thank you sir." Troy felt some excitement just hearing that.

"If you all don't mind, I'd like to watch the rest of the tournament." Mr. Brown went on. "Then I can watch you play some more."

"That would be great, thank you Brian." Jack Bolton shook the guy's hand. They had come to know each other over the past years. Brian Brown had come to East high a few times to find some fresh new players.

"Good luck in your games kid." Mr. Brown patted Troy on the shoulder and smiled before turning to leave the school. His dad and Mr. Matsui started having a conversation, which Troy promptly tuned himself out of.

He couldn't help but smile. Things were going good. He looked around to find his friends or teammates. There were a bunch of them at the bottom of the bleachers, all talking and joking around. Right beside Gabriella stood a happy looking Ben.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella was relieved to find that Ben could fit in with her friends. In fact, for the entire day they had been talking non-stop. She didn't have to worry about it being awkward. They all seemed to like him.

At the end of the day, they were all standing around in the gym, slowly gathering together again. Zeke and Chad had joined back up with their girlfriends. Jason had come along and now all of them were talking in a large group. Everyone had met Ben and things were going good.

Chad had just said something stupid, getting an eye roll from Taylor, who refused to touch him when he was sweaty after games. Everyone laughed while Chad just scowled at all of them.

Gabriella suddenly found herself wondering were Troy was. She looked across the gym and saw him staring over at them all. He wasn't coming over though.

"I'll be back." She excused herself quietly and stared walking towards him. She saw a smile grow on his face when he saw that she had noticed him. "Hey, you were great!" she said happily, hugging him.

Troy laughed. "You think so?" he asked her.

"Of course." She shook her head a bit. "Did anything happen with the scout?" she asked hopefully.

He shrugged. "I think he was impressed." He told her. "He's coming back tomorrow."

"So all you have to do is play as well as you did today?" she asked to make sure that she understood.

"Yeah…I guess." He sighed nervously.

"You'll do amazing, I know you will." Gabby reassured him. She hugged him again and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey guys we're all heading out to eat, planning on coming?" Chad's voice came into their conversation.

"Sure." Gabriella replied instantly. She figured things were going good today, why not keep having a nice time.

"Go shower then!" Sharpay said excitedly. She pushed Zeke in the general direction of the showers. His other teammates followed him. "And be quick I'm starving!" she added.

Obviously what she had said worked, because fifteen minutes later they were all heading out to go get something to eat. Gabby ended up walking right in between Troy and Ben, the three of them silent.

Just about as she was beginning to dread the rest of the day and what would happen in that time, Ben looked over at his brother with a small smile.

"Good job man." He told him. "I don't think I've seen you play since we were little." He informed him.

"Thanks." Gabriella saw a smile on Troy's face too. She got ten times happier at this. Could the two brothers possibly start to get along again?

Only time would tell.


	14. Guilt

**Chapter 14: Guilt**

That night there must have been something in the air. Or food. Or something. Gabriella couldn't figure it out, and she certainly couldn't describe it.

The past few times she had been with both Troy and Ben in the same room, things had been disastrous. They usually ended up with someone leaving suddenly, and either being chased or chasing someone else. But tonight, things couldn't have been better. Everyone had a good time. They had stayed at the diner for hours, just fooling around.

The thing that amazed her the most was Troy and Ben talking. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make her be happy but uncomfortable at the same time. She hadn't felt as bad when they had not gotten along, but now, she realized that she might end up tearing something extremely fragile apart. Would she be able to choose?

She had dropped both of them off and was slightly relieved to be away from both of them. She needed to go home and do some thinking. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

When she was nearly home, she noticed something on the seat. When she stopped at a light she picked it up and realized it was Troy's cell phone. He'd die without it.

Without stopping to think about it, she took a different turn that would take her back in the general direction of the Bolton's house. It didn't take long to get there, since it wasn't far from her house. She quickly got out of her car and went up to the front door, hoping that they weren't sleeping or anything.

No one came to the door for the longest time. She could hear Bear on the other side of the door. Just as she turned to walk back to her car, the front door opened and light flooded out onto the walkway.

"Gabby?"

She spun back around again. She was surprised to see two people standing in the doorway, looking at her with an almost identical expression. It made her feel really weird.

"Uh… hey Ben, hey Troy." She said awkwardly. "Okay you're both looking a me weirdly, I probably shouldn't have come." She sighed to herself.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked her before she could get away.

"You left your phone in my car Troy." She held it out for him to take.

Troy instantly smiled. "I thought I left it in the change room!" he laughed. "Thanks Gabby."

"No problem." She told him. "Well I'd better just go then."

"Hold on." Troy said, stopping her again. "We're just hanging out, playing video games and stuff, want to come in for a bit?" he asked.

"I actually have to…. wait you guys were hanging out?" she thought that was really weird.

"Yeah." Ben said happily. "Come on."

She really did not want to get in the middle of this. She remembered that she had a good excuse. "Um, I actually have to go, I promised my mom I'd be home to help her plan something for my birthday." She sighed.

"You're birthday is coming up?" It occurred to Troy that he didn't actually know when her birthday was. But he knew she was the kind of person who didn't get overly excited about that kind of thing.

"Yeah. Next Saturday." She nodded. "I'd better go before she freaks." She told them.

"Alright bye."

Gabriella walked to her car, trying to shake off the weird feeling she had. Before she heard the door close, she heard them joking around, betting about who was going to beat who at their game.

Were these the two guys she had needed to separate from hurting each other only a week ago? They definitely weren't, and she knew that while usually she would have been so happy to see two brothers re-bonding, this could not end well.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next day, excitement and suspense filled the gym. Everyone was excited to see who would win the tournament. Most people were guessing East High.

Troy had spotted Mr. Brown before he had gone to get changed. His stomach instantly flipped. Yesterday he'd played well. He hoped he could do the same today. It would be hard, the competition was tough.

He sat on the bench in the change room, staring at the cracks in the tiled floor. He could feel the ball in his hands. The smooth but bumpy leather was one of the most natural feels for him. That, and the satisfying feeling when he jumped to score a basket.

"Hey Troy, want to give me that ball so we can warm up?" Chad interrupted his thoughts.Troy looked up and sent him the ball in the form of a smooth, perfect pass. Then he got up, knowing that warming up before a game was the most important part.

"Five minutes until game time." He heard his dad say from the far end of the change room.

Troy tried to shake his nervous feeling.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Gabby got to Chad's that night, the music was already blaring. People she saw in the halls of her school everyday were milling around the huge basement, happily celebrating East High's tournament win.

She was looking for any of her friends, knowing that they should be here by now. She had gotten stuck at home, fighting with her mom about what was happening that night. Gabby had planned on going to Taylor's when the party was over, and stay there for the night. Apparently she hadn't informed her mom, though both Gabby and Jaz remembered talking about it at dinner a few nights before.

Last time she had looked at the clock, she had realized that she was over a half hour late. They were probably wondering where she was.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she felt a hand on her arm and turned to see Ben standing right behind her.

"Hey." She said, happy to see someone. "Uh sure, what is it?" she asked while he pulled her around the corner and into the hallway.

"I just want to thank you." He told her.

"Thank me?" Gabby asked. "Why?"

"For including me yesterday." He told her. "The past two days have been awesome."

"I…" Gabby was about to reply to that when he kissed her. The two got caught in a moment, forgetting the party going on around them. Then the room suddenly got a whole lot noisier.

Gabriella looked around the corner and saw that everyone was crowded around someone. She didn't need to ask who it was.

"Let's go see how he did!" she said excitedly.

Troy had needed to stay a while after the game so that he could talk to Mr. Brown. Everyone had anxiously been waiting for his arrival so they could hear what happened.

Gabby and Ben pushed their way through the crowd of people all trying to greet him at once. She set her eyes on a very happy looking Troy and rushed over to him.

"How did it go?" she practically had to scream over the noise.

"How did what go?" he asked with a smirk, he knew exactly what she was asking about.

"Troy, tell me before I have to hurt you!" she told him. "What did he say?"

"Anywhere I want to go." He smiled. "I got it."

"Troy that's amazing!" she gave him the biggest hug she could. "I knew you'd get it."

"Really? Because I can't believe it." He told her, making her laugh.

"Hey look, you may not believe this, but I'm proud of you man." Ben stepped forward and told his brother.

Gabby thought Troy couldn't possibly look happier until Ben said that. "Thanks Ben." He replied.

Gabriella watched as the two brothers hugged and felt guilt tug at her stomach.


	15. Practice Makes Perfect

**Chapter 15: Practice Makes Perfect**

On Monday the school was almost completely back to normal. Everyone was still a little hyped up from the tournament, and Troy was beginning to get a little sick of people congratulating him for the good news. Gabriella was also getting annoyed, but by her mom, who had decided to have a party of Saturday for Gabby's birthday. Everyone seemed to be excited but Gabby.

The bell rang throughout the school, signaling that homeroom was over.

"Alright don't be late for your first classes!" Ms. Darbus told her homeroom as they all got up from their desks, chatting with their friends while they collected their bags. "Troy and Gabriella could I see the two of you for a minute?" she added.

This didn't surprise either of them. Ms. Darbus often gave them notes or little corrections to think about during the school day before a rehearsal. She waited until the class had left the room. Troy leaned casually against a desk while Gabby stood still, twisting a curl of her hair around her finger.

"Alright you two." Ms. Darbus turned her attention to them. "I wanted to talk to you about your onstage kiss."

"Our what?" Troy blurted. Gabby's face changed a little.

"Your onstage kiss, Bolton." She repeated. "I hope the two of you will be comfortable with it because from years of experience as a director, I've learnt that real kisses are always far better looking."

"Okay..." Gabriella nodded, so did Troy.

"Perfect." She put a hand on each of their shoulders and gave a dramatic breath as if they were fresh air flooding into her lungs. "Not today, but in the near future I'll expect to see it in practices. In the meantime I suggest you practice." She told them. They both nodded again, not believing this conversation. "You may go to your classes."

She left them both standing awkwardly at the front of the classroom. Neither of them thought this was the most terrible thing. They had kissed before. It wasn't new or anything. But the thing was, every time they had, it had been without thinking. They weren't forced or watched by anyone. Now thinking about doing it in front of the entire school made things weird.

"Uh… how about we go to practice like fifteen minutes early?" Gabby suggested, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Sure…that sounds fine." Troy agreed, adding a nod.

Gabriella nodded to. "Great, well….I'd better get to class then." She told him.

He nodded again. "Yeah, me too."

"See you later Troy." She said before turning and leaving the classroom. When she was out in the hall she found herself breathing a sigh of relief.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Taylor looked from one person to the other, trying to figure out what might be going on. She knew Sharpay was doing the same.

Troy and Gabriella were acting weird. Well, weirder then they usually did. Both girls knew something must have happened. They were awkward. They were avoiding each other's glances and Gabby had blushed about five times because they had brushed against one another.

Halfway through eating lunch, Taylor was sick of it. She needed to know what was going on now. So she sneakily kicked Gabriella under the table, giving her a significant look.

"I have to go to the washroom." Taylor announced to the table. "Be right back."

Gabby quickly put her fork down. "Yeah me too." She got up, wondering what it was that Taylor wanted.

"Can you girls never just go alone?" Chad asked jokingly. He got a little whack on the head from Taylor. "You realize I can barely feel that right? My hair is like a cushion, protecting my head from angry girlfriends." He told her. She didn't say anything in response, but gave him another whack, this time on the arm.

"Good one Chad." Troy rolled his eyes while the rest of their friends laughed.

"Come on Gabs. Taylor linked her arm through Gabriella's and the two of them went off to the bathroom. When they got in there, Taylor stopped and looked at Gabby. "So I'm just going to go straight into it here. What is up with you and Troy?"

"Hello? Forget to give us the memo?" Sharpay asked when her and Kelsi came into the washroom. "We had to make up some stupid excuse to get away from that table."

"Sorry." Taylor sighed. She didn't let their interruption distract her though. "So Gabby? What is it, why are you two so weird today?"

"Troy and I are not being weird." Gabriella told her.

Sharpay dramatically rolled her eyes. "Gabriella Montez, that is the worst lie I have ever heard." She looked at her friend intensely, waiting for her to come out with it. Gabby blushed again. "Oh my god, did something happen with you guys?" she asked excitedly.

"Tell us!" Kelsi shared her excitement.

Gabby put her hands up to make them all be quiet. "Whoa, you guys, nothing happened. I swear." She told them quickly.

"Well then what is going on then?" Taylor asked. "Because it's definitely something."

Gabriella sighed. "Okay, I know you guys aren't going to shut up until I tell you." She gave up. "If you must know, things are a little weird because this morning Ms. Darbus asked us to practice our onstage kiss." She told them.

"Really?" Kelsi said with a smirk.

"Yes." Gabby replied seriously.

"So what's the big deal?" Sharpay asked her. "I mean, you guys have before right?" she wanted to make sure.

"Yeah." Gabby nodded. "We have. But it just sort of happened, like, not on purpose." She told them. "And I guess we both just realized that everyone's going to be watching it." She took a deep breath.

Sharpay shook her head. "So who _cares_?" she blurted out. "Gabby, you get to kiss Troy Bolton. Do you have any idea how many girls in this school would like to have the chance to do that?" she asked. Taylor held in a laugh. "It doesn't matter if it's the most awkward thing in your entire life."

When Gabriella thought about it, she was sort of being stupid about it. How many girls would do anything to be in her place? "You're right." She admitted.

"I know I am." Sharpay gave a small laugh. "Now let's get back out there before the boys wonder what's happened to us."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

They had fifteen minutes before the rest of the cast would be coming into the theatre to start rehearsal. Troy and Gabriella had come early to do what Ms. Darbus had suggested, and practice the kiss that they would have to do during their performance. They were standing in one of the dressing rooms, with a script lying on the table beside them, just in case.

"Okay ready?" Gabriella was calm on the outside. On the inside, she was burning with anticipation.

"If you are." Troy replied, why was this making him so nervous?

She nodded before fixing her big brown eyes on his deep blue ones. "But what are you doing here Arnold, I thought you hated me?" she said, perfectly in character.

"I could never, ever hate you Minnie. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that. The truth is, I love you." Troy had long ago memorized his lines. He had pulled it all together. He was Arnold. His intensity left Gabby somewhat stunned.

She took that in and they just stared at each other. Then she remembered what they were here to do. "Uh, Troy?" she started.

"Yeah?" he didn't move his eyes from her.

"I think the script says… um…_Arnold leans in and kisses Minnie_." She glanced at the script before meeting his eyes again.

"Oh, right." He swallowed. "I could never hate you Minnie. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that. The truth is, I love you." He repeated the last part of his line. This time they didn't just stop and stare. Slowly, Troy got closer and closer. Gabriella's heart was beating fast. Then he was so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. Before she knew it, there was no space at all.

They had been Arnold and Minnie before their lips finally met. As soon as they did, their characters faded away, leaving Troy and Gabriella in a moment that had been so long coming.

It was something they had both imagined, but could have never known until then. It was like a switch was flicked. They both felt the heat.

Gabriella did her best to pull away. "I…I forget my line." She whispered, practically against his lips.

"Who cares…" Troy muttered. He caught her lips again. It made her forget about practicing. This time, they didn't stop. Gabriella was leaning on the table. The edge was sticking into her back uncomfortably. It surprised her a little when Troy lifted her so she was sitting on it instead.

A wave of guilt suddenly ran though Gabriella's mind. She realized right then, just how horrible she was being to Troy, and to Ben. They were both amazing guys. She was trying not to hurt them but only making things worse. The truth in her mind was that she didn't deserve either of them. She didn't understand, Troy could have any girl he wanted in East High, why did he want her?

She broke away again when she felt the tears burning her eyes. Troy noticed when he looked at her. "Gabby?" he wasn't sure what to say. Had he made her cry?

"I'm a terrible person." She wiped the first of tears off of her cheek.

"What are you talking about?" Troy was surprised.

"I…I love you Troy." She started. "But I love you both, and don't want to hurt either of you." She wiped more tears away. "I don't deserve either of you, why do you love me when you could do so much better?" she collapsed into sobs, not able to stand this anymore.

Troy pulled her in, hoping to comfort her. Her face was buried in his chest, her hands resting on his shoulders. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this Gabs." He told her softly. "It's not fair, it doesn't make you a terrible person."

She couldn't believe him. He must really love her to be so understanding. She accepted his comfort, remembering a time a few weeks ago, before all of this mess, when she had gotten in a huge fight wit her mom, and called Troy. He'd told her to come over so he could make sure she was okay. When he opened the door and saw how upset she had been he had hugged her, and they had stayed like that, her in his arms for over a half an hour, until they felt it getting cold outside. There was something so comforting about the way he held her.

They were silent until they started hearing the doors of the theatre opening and closing. People were starting to drift in to rehearsal.

Gabriella separated herself from Troy and wiped her eyes. "Sorry…I don't really know what happened there." She sighed.

"I guess we should get out there." Troy said.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah."

Troy moved away and offered her his hand to help her down. She took it with a small smile, and tried to collect herself in the short time she had before she needed to focus on rehearsing.

For the entire practice, Gabriella had only one thought in her mind. It was time to choose.


	16. Risks

**Hey! Sorry, I realized that it's been quite a while since I've updated this story, which I'm so sorry about by the way. Anyways, here's the next bit, I hope you all like it. I'll put more up later tonight, since I have a bunch of chapters that are already written. I'll try to get everything caught up soon, so expect a lot of updates. :)**

**Chapter 16: Risks**

"Good morning sweetheart!" Lisa Montez greeted her sleepy-eyed daughter when she came into the kitchen that Saturday morning. "Happy birthday!"

"Good morning." Gabby replied tiredly. She looked around the kitchen and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, what is all of this?" she said as she noticed the food lining the counters.

"It's all for the party." Her mom informed her happily. "Look's good doesn't it?"

Gabby ran a hand through her hair. "Mom, you really didn't have do this." She said with a small sigh.

Lisa just shook her head. "Don't you even think that." She came over and kissed her on the head. "You're my baby girl."

"Mom…" Gabriella sighed. She realized there was no point in fighting this. It was happening, and her friends were going to be here in a few hours. "Do you want any help?"

"No. No." Her mother laughed. "Why don't you go upstairs and start getting ready?" she suggested.

"Mom I have like over three hours." Gabby told her. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"I'm sure." Lisa informed her. "Go relax. Watch TV, have a long shower. Whatever you want. Just don't worry about what's going on in here."

"Okay fine." Gabby hid her eye roll from her mother. She decided she might as well go back up to her room for a while. A few minutes later she sat on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. The one thing that seemed to constantly fill her mind right now came back again. She rolled over and stuffed her face in her pillow, trying to get those thoughts to leave her mind. She wanted to scream in frustration, hoping her pillow might muffle it.

Why couldn't she just choose? It had been three weeks and she still hadn't come up with any sort of solution to her problem.

She felt different things with Ben and Troy. It was hard to compare them. Troy was so different from her. When she really thought about it, they barely had anything in common, but she had the greatest connection she had ever had with anyone with him. She felt like it didn't matter that they were different. Troy had already proved that he didn't care what people thought about what they had going. He'd made her transition to East high, magical. She couldn't deny that.

But then there was Ben, who she connected with too. They had a lot in common, obviously, considering that they'd met each other at a math and science conference. Ben was one of the sweetest, most caring people she knew. He could always tell what she wanted even before she wanted it. She sometimes wondered how he managed to be so perfect all the time. Things between them had been going good before everything happened. Would it have stayed that way?

Gabriella thought of her birthday party today, and felt a looming dread come over her. She didn't want to face them anymore. She was sick of watching them get closer and closer, it made her feel guilty. She was sick of being in love with two people, it was emotionally straining. Most of all, she was sick of trying to choose.

Gabriella stared out her window and suddenly came up with idea that could either figure things out once and for all, or cause even more disaster.

That was a risk she was willing to take.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy checked the clock in his room. He should be leaving pretty soon. He rushed around his room, trying to get ready as fast as possible, he had been a little delayed this morning. He didn't want to be late for Gabriella's party though. He couldn't be. There was something he needed to talk to her about.

When he was finally dressed and ready to go, he grabbed his keys, wallet and cell phone off of his bedside table. He stopped on the way to his bedroom door and picked up the present he had spent a while wrapping. Then he quickly ran down the stairs, glanced quickly in the mirror in the hall, and headed for the front door.

Just as he was about to turn the handle, the doorbell rang and Troy was instantly confused. He opened the door and saw his brother standing there.

"Ben Hey. What are you…" He tried to figure out what was going on here. Shouldn't Ben be on the way to Gabby's house too?

"Uh, okay I know this is weird but, I think there's something we need to talk about." Ben seemed kind of nervous.

Troy tried not to wince. "Can we do this after the party maybe?" he asked, knowing he was already cutting time short.

Ben shook his head. "No it has to be now. I know we're both going to be late, but you'll understand why."

Troy figured it out with those words. This was something to do with Gabriella. He knew it. As much as they had been getting along lately, it was hard to deny that they were both getting a little impatient.

"Alright. Come on in." Troy sighed and they both went into the house, the same thing on their minds.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Three hours later, Gabriella was finishing up getting ready for her party. Someone obviously had extraordinarily good timing, because as soon as she set her mascara down on her dresser, the doorbell rang throughout the house. Her mom tried to get there first, but was too busy with something in the kitchen. Instead, Gabriella opened the door and was greeted by the smiling faces of Taylor and Chad.

"Hey guys." She greeted two of her best friends.

"Gabby!" Taylor launched herself forward and hugged her friend. "Happy Birthday!" she squeezed her tight and giggled. "Sorry I get excited about birthdays." She gushed to her surprised friend.

"That's okay Taylor." Gabriella laughed too. Taylor's mood was infectious.

"Happy birthday Gabby." Chad came forward and gave her a much calmer hug.

Not long after Taylor and Chad came Kelsi, followed by Sharpay and Ryan, then Jason and finally Zeke, who was late because he had been baking some extra treats for the party and had lost track of time. They waited around a bit for the last two, but then were ushered out back by Gabriella's mother. For a while Gabriella wondered where Troy and Ben could possibly be. Why were they late?

But then, she decided that she didn't want to think about it. They would come eventually. She contentedly went and sat with her friends on the side of the pool. They were all dipping their feet in, just hanging out.

"Mmm, Gabby this is delicious." Jason said through a mouthful of food.

She laughed. "Go tell my mother that." she told him.

"Looks like the late ones are finally here." Taylor informed everyone with a raised eyebrow.

At the exact same time, Gabby's mom yelled over from the barbecue. "Food's ready kids!" she called while placing a tray of something on the large table.

Everyone got up, most of them heading to where the food was being laid out. Gabriella went in the opposite direction and started making her way towards the two guys coming towards her. They met halfway.

"Hi." Was all that came out of her mouth at first. There was a small silence, where she started doubting what she was planning on saying to them. But then the determination came back to her. "I need to talk to both of you." She told them.

"Actually, there's something we need to talk to you about too." Ben replied. All three of them were confused.

Gabriella decided she wanted to hear what they had to say first. "Go ahead." She nodded to them.

"Okay Gabby listen…" Troy started "We can't wait anymore."

"We need to know who it's going to be." Ben added.

Gabriella looked at both of them and felt her mind fog over. That's what this was about? They wanted her to choose right now? On her birthday? She felt a bit of annoyance flare up inside of herself and decided to go ahead with what she had planned on telling them.

"Actually I'm not choosing." She said suddenly.

"What?" Ben described the way both of the guys were feeling in one word.

"I'm not choosing." She repeated. "Not anymore anyways, you are. I am tired of trying to figure this out while the two of you run around making things ten times more complicated. So now you are going to choose and whenever you do, I'll be right here."

"But how are we supposed to…" Troy started.

"I don't care!" she said loudly. "Flip a coin, draw names, _talk about it_! It doesn't matter, whatever works. Just don't ask me anymore, and don't do anything stupid like fight about it." She said strongly to their stunned looking faces. "Tomorrow afternoon one of you will knock on my door, got it?" she asked, and watched them both nod.

With that, Gabriella turned and walked toward the rest of her friends. Of course she hadn't wanted it to come down to this. She hated sounding selfish, or demanding like that. But she knew that without some action, this weird little love triangle they had going would keep going, forever. She really didn't need that.

Nevertheless, she decided it was time to enjoy her birthday party. She felt like there was a weight lifted off of her. Things were no longer in her hands.


	17. No Second Guesses

**Here's the next part! **

**Thanks so much for the reviews guys, I love them and appreciate them! **

**Chapter 17: No Second Guesses**

The next morning, Gabriella woke up to a silent house. Her mom was always out on Sundays, getting all of the errands done. Jaz was either still sleeping, already out doing something, or had possibly never come home.

This morning, she could not stand the silence. Time was moving slower then she thought it possibly ever could. She needed something to distract herself until the afternoon.

She picked up the phone and called the first person who came into her head, Taylor. The phone rang a few times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" a guys voice came through, surprising Gabriella.

"Chad?" she asked, recognizing her friend's voice. "Did I call you by accident?" she was confused.

"No." he replied. "You called Taylor. Hold on." He put down the phone and Gabriella waited while he called Taylor over.

"Hey Gabby." Taylor said happily.

"Tay, why is Chad answering your phone?" she asked.

Taylor gave a small laugh. "Oh, well my hands were covered in peanut butter because I was making sandwiches, but I didn't want to miss the phone, so I made Chad get it." She informed Gabriella. "Sorry about the confusion there. What's up?"

Gabby shook her head at her friend's behavior. "I don't know what's wrong with me Taylor." She sighed. "What happened yesterday? Why did I do that?"

She heard Taylor sigh. "You're freaking out aren't you?" she asked.

"Well yeah!" Gabby replied. "Like am I that stupid, that I can't choose between two guys?" she sat on her bed.

"Gabby! Calm down." Taylor told her.

"I'm trying!" Gabriella snapped back.

"Okay just be quiet for a second and listen to me." Taylor started. "I think you are freaking out because maybe you tend to second guess yourself." She told her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, there have been a lot of things that you've done that have possibly caused yourself more stress." Taylor told her.

"Like what?"

"Well, think back. Remember how set you were on Troy? You were so close to just telling how you felt in the first place, then you put a thought into your head that maybe he didn't feel the same way." Taylor told her. "And look what ended up happening, he told you how he felt, but it might have been too late." She went on. "Then you started with Ben, and things were going great, you were happy. But when you found out everything about him and Troy, you decided maybe being with him wasn't the best thing." She paused and sighed. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah." Gabriella agreed. When she though about it, Taylor was completely right about her. She didn't stick with things. She was always scared that there might be something else waiting for her. But what if there wasn't. What if she just needed to take a leap and trust herself? "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked her friend. "It's not in my hands anymore."

Taylor was silent for a moment. "Gabby, I think it's time to just go for it." She told Gabriella. "When that doorbell rings, take who you see. Either way you're a lucky girl."

"Okay. Thanks Tay." Gabriella breathed out. "Have fun with Chad."

"Will do." Taylor replied. "Don't stress out okay."

Gabriella couldn't help but give a tiny laugh. "I wont." She assured her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm not so sure about this." Chad shook his head when Taylor hung up the phone.

Taylor sighed. "Yeah well neither am I but I don't think anyone can really control what's going to happen anymore." She sat down at the table with Chad.

"I just feel terrible that I'm not doing anything to help." He sighed, picking at the sandwich Taylor had just made him.

"Chad look, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to shake some sense into Gabriella, but remember last time we tried to make something that we thought was the best thing for everyone happen?" she asked him.

"Yeah, everything ended up being worse." Chad replied.

"Exactly." Taylor nodded. "So as much as we want to do something, I suggest that we both do what I just told Gabriella to do and let whatever happens, happen."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella had spent the rest of the morning getting ready for that afternoon. She'd taken a shower, dried her hair nicely, and spent forever figuring out what to wear. She had tried to distract herself from thinking at all, but had failed miserably. She couldn't figure out who she would rather see at that door.

She found herself humming while she waited for whoever was coming. She checked herself in the mirror a few times, nervously wringing her hands and trying not to stare out the window every second. This was killing her.

Then the doorbell rang. She carefully breathed out a breath that she didn't even know she had been holding in. Then she opened the front door.

"Hi." She caught her breath.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Chad cell phone was ringing. He got up from the table where him and Taylor had been sitting and went to go and answer it. Taylor watched him.

"Hello?" he brought the phone to his ear, not bothering to check who the caller was.

"Hey." His best friend's voice came through. He didn't sound very happy.

"Troy." Chad breathed out. "I'm going to cut right to it and guess that you're not with Gabriella right now." He said. Taylor was watching from the table. Her face fell a little.

"No…" Troy replied.

"I'm sorry man." Chad leaned against the counter.

"Ah, it's not your fault." Troy sighed deeply.

Chad couldn't stand this. This was not the way things were supposed to be. "Where are you?" he asked his friend.

"I'm just…I don't even know. Driving around." Troy told him. Chad shook his head.

"Come to Taylor's." Chad told him, knowing he would probably refuse. He knew Troy, and he figured he would probably just want to be alone right now. So Troy's real reply shocked him.

"I'll be there in five minutes." He said before hanging up.

Chad put his phone down and looked at Taylor. "You really think things are going to work out for the better?" he asked her.

Suddenly, Taylor wasn't so sure.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Gabriella had opened her front door, she had smiled when she saw Ben. She remembered what Taylor had told her to do that morning and had gone for it. But she hadn't been able to shake a feeling of shock. Or was it disbelief? She wasn't sure. She hadn't expected this, but Taylors words still drifted through her mind. It was time to stop second-guessing herself. She was lucky to have this.

Now, they were sitting in silence at a nice restaurant not far from her house. They had eaten a wonderful lunch. She loved the way he treated her and knew if she wanted this to work out, she would have to push all her thoughts of Troy out of her mind.

"Gabriella, I think you should go and find Troy." Ben said suddenly, letting out a deep breath.

"What?" she looked at him, completely shocked at hearing him say that. "No, Ben." She shook her head, turning towards him. "I'm here with you."

He shook his head too. "I've figured it out." He took her hands. "You want to love me, but you already love someone else." He told her. "So as much as I want you, you just don't belong with me."

She fought back tears, but they came anyways. "I'm so sorry Ben," she wiped her eyes.

He shook his head again. "Don't be." He told her.

They stood up. Gabriella hugged him. When she pulled away, she looked at him. "I hope you find someone who can give you the love you deserve." She gave him a small smile, before kissing his cheek and walking away.

She walked quickly, her sundress fluttering around her knees. She got in her car and instantly thought, where was Troy?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When the doorbell rang, Taylor opened the front door and was shocked to see who was standing there. "Gabriella?" she asked as the brunette walked past her into the front hall.

"Is Chad still here?" Gabriella asked her quickly. "I need to ask him something."

"Yeah I'm here." Chad came into the hall in perfect timing. "What do you want Gabs?" he asked her. Both Taylor and Chad were looking at her, knowing where she should really be right now.

"I need to find Troy." She told him without explanation. "Do you know where he is right now?" she asked frantically.

Chad was confused but figured he should answer her quickly. "Yeah, actually he's out back." He told her, pointing in the general direction of Taylor's backyard. "Why?" he asked, but a second too late since Gabriella was already heading in that same direction. Taylor and Chad shared a confused look before silently following her through the house.

Gabriella felt the fresh air rush over her skin as she burst out the back door, instantly scanning the large back yard for any sign of Troy. She spotted him sitting at the table that sat beside the pool. He was looking down at the grass, but looked up when he heard the door open.

She saw a confused expression grow on his face. But she didn't say anything. Instead, she kept moving towards him. When she was standing right in front of him, she put both of her hands out. Without hesitating, Troy reached out and took them.

He didn't expect her to pull him up from the chair he was sitting in and kiss him. But she did, and he let it happen, knowing there must be some reason for this.

When she pulled away he looked at her in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be with Ben?" he asked her. Their hands were still together at their sides.

She shook her head, curls bouncing over her shoulders. "I can't really explain it, but all I have to say is that I'm so sorry that it took me this long to figure it out." She looked at him. There were tears in her eyes.

His only response was to kiss her back. She let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around his neck. Troy's heart was beating fast. Finally she was his.

Taylor and Chad had stopped at the back door and watched all of this happen. Both of them had smiles on their faces. This was right.

"See, I told you to just let it happen." Taylor whispered.

**Alright, well I hope you're all happy now. I'll get some more up asap so this can be on the same track.**

**(p.s. If you happen to be a member of zefron dot com this fic is at chapter 27 there. That's why I keep saying I need to get this one caught up.) **


	18. Never Just Happy

**Here's the next Chapter. Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**Chapter 18: Never Just Happy**

Gabriella was walking into school the next day with Taylor, and yelped when she suddenly got pinched in the arm. "Ow, what was that for?" she rubbed her arm, looking at her friend.

"I've asked you the same thing five times and you haven't replied." Taylor said, feeling annoyed. She hated being ignored.

"Oh. Sorry Tay." Gabby replied. "I must have been distracted." She shrugged, shaking it off. The smile came back onto her face. "What do you want?" she asked.

Taylor was about to open her mouth to speak, now that she had her friend's attention, when Sharpay squeezed her way between, linking onto their arms.

"Gabriella Montez I am so upset with you." She said immediately.

"Why?" Gabriella was a little shocked. Clearly she wasn't entirely there this morning.

Sharpay shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I am upset, because I had to find out through a long and complicated chain of people that you and Troy got together yesterday." She informed Gabriella.

"Oh." Gabriella bit her lip. "Sorry Shar. I was a little distracted I guess."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "That's her excuse for everything today." She muttered to Sharpay.

Sharpay just laughed at both of them. "It's okay Gabby. But now, I am not unlinking myself from your arm until you give me every last little detail." She said happily.

Gabriella had full intentions of telling Sharpay everything, but then they turned the corner and she saw Troy further up the hallway. The sight of him made her smile, and she broke away from her two friends, practically running down the hall to sneak up on Troy. Taylor and Sharpay laughed when they figured out what she was doing, and sped up a little bit in order to catch up.

Gabriella tried to hold in her laughter as she neared her now boyfriend. That was a comforting thought. He was completely unaware that she was right behind him. She let out a final burst of speed and caught him around the waist.

Troy nearly jumped out of his skin when she attacked him from the back. As soon as he heard the laughter, he knew exactly who it was. She didn't let go, so he turned around to face her.

"Got you." Gabriella was still laughing. "You should see the look on your face." She teased.

"What exactly were you planning on getting out of this?" he smirked at her.

Gabby shrugged. "I don't know." she smiled up at him.

"Well if it was something like this…" he leaned in an gave her a quick kiss. "Then you got it." He told her.

Gabriella laughed again. "Really? Are you sure, because I'm not quite sure that…" she was cut off when he kissed her again, this time wasn't so quick.

"Bolton! Montez!" they pulled apart when they heard the familiar, barking voice of Ms. Darbus, fill their ears. She shook her head at both of them. "You know the rules, you two." Was all she could say, unable to get mad at two of her now favorite students in East High.

"Smooth guys." Sharpay commented as she walked past both of them on the way to class. Taylor was next to her, laughing at what had just happened.

"I guess we better go into homeroom." Gabriella told him.

He slipped an arm around her. "Okay but, me and you, you know where, second half of lunch. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan." She smiled and walked ahead of him into the classroom.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella was waiting for Troy when he got up to the spot they had long ago called their own. There was a slight breeze, which was blowing her hair around her face a bit.

"Hey." He said and she looked over at him.

"Hi." Gabby smiled and went over to him, fitting herself perfectly into his arms.

"So it's been what, like a day now?" Troy asked her.

Gabriella nodded. "Yep, twenty four crazy hours worth of us." She told him, making him laugh. Troy leaned down and kissed her. She cut it off earlier then expected and leaned her forehead against his shoulder, staying silent.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. He knew her too well.

Gabby looked back up at him. "I just can't help but wonder if Ben is okay…" she told him honestly.

This shocked Troy a little. "You're thinking about Ben right now?" he asked, feeling something inside of him flare up a little bit. He didn't mean for it to sound defensive.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked him, a confused look filling her eyes.

Troy shrugged. "Well, I don't know. You're here with me, why are you suddenly thinking about Ben? He asked her.

"I don't know…" she really wasn't sure. She was a little stunned to hear some harshness in Troy's voice.

"You don't know?" he repeated her words, sighing and stepping away from her.

Gabriella suddenly understood what was going on here. "Troy, I left him hanging yesterday. Do you expect me to not feel any kind of guilt about that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I guess." He said. "I just thought that yesterday this became you and me."

"It is!" she couldn't believe this. "Troy." She looked at him in shock.

He turned and leaned on the railing over the stairs. "Why do I find that hard to believe." He heard himself saying, not looking at her.

Gabriella stood silent and frozen for a moment, just staring at him. She felt tears coming into her eyes, but refused to cry right now. Not in front of him. "Well I was just trying to be honest with you. You didn't have to snap my head off." She said stonily.

The bell rang, cutting through the silence that had been created by the tension from their conversation. Troy didn't move an inch. Gabriella waited for a moment, before finally deciding to just leave. What had just happened there?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy was shooting some hoops during free period that day, unable to distract himself from the fight that he and Gabriella had gotten in at lunch. He missed a few shots and got frustrated, throwing the ball hardly onto the ground in anger.

"Whoa, what's up with you man?" someone called from behind him. Troy swiveled around to see Chad staring at him, eyebrows raised in wonder.

"Nothing." He muttered.

"I don't believe you, because I already know what happened." Chad informed him. "Taylor told me." He looked at his friend. "I think Gabriella was pretty upset you know."

"Great." Troy shot back. "Why don't you guys go and let the whole school know that the couple they were all excited about apparently can't even make it a day." He angrily sat down on the bench. Chad wasn't sure what to say to that, it had shocked him. "Sorry I just hate how everyone cares so much."

"Whatever. Chad shrugged. He sat down on the bench beside his friend.

"The worst part is, I meant everything I told her." Troy told him seriously.

"Dude, you think maybe that was a little unnecessary?" Chad asked.

"Look Chad, if you're just going to disagree with me, then I'd rather not talk to you right now." Troy replied stubbornly.

"Troy come on. I know that somewhere inside, you agree with me here." Chad told him.

Troy sighed. "Okay, so I probably didn't need to flip out at her like I did." He admitted. "I just thought that yesterday meant…" he trailed off, knowing that Chad understood what he meant.

"Yesterday, a lot of things happened for you guys." Chad shrugged. "But I mean, she _did_ love Ben too Troy." He told him, watching his friend calm down a bit. "I'm sure she's probably going to need some time to get over that."

"I know." Troy nodded. She had tried to tell him earlier, but he'd just snapped at her. He sighed again. "I just hate waiting."

Chad smiled. "I don't think you have anything to worry about man. She chose you. After everything, you're the one that she wants."

"Yeah." Troy agreed after a moment.

Chad nudged him. "Go do something about this before it slips away from you." He urged him.

Troy took a deep breath and got up, stuffing the ball that he had been holding into Chad's hands. Chad was right. He had been stupid. But now it was time to save this.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella had made it through the rest of her classes that day. It was hard to believe that this morning she had practically been on top of he world. That had changed drastically in only a few hours. How had she let it happen?

Now she was ready to leave for the day, thankful that today was the only day this week that they didn't have rehearsal for the musical. When she slammed her locker door, she nearly jumped when she noticed that Troy was standing beside her.

"Hi." She said, wondering what exactly he was doing there. He was just looking at her, so she decided to just turn and leave. Frankly, she was somewhat scared of him after what had happened earlier at lunch

"Gabriella…" he followed her, trying to get her to stop. Unfortunately for her, even though she tried to walk quickly, he was fast. He caught up right away. "I didn't mean what I said at lunch today." He told her.

"Really, because you sounded pretty believable to me." She said coldly, continuing to walk.

He sighed. "Okay, maybe I did mean every word." He admitted. "But I have a good explanation, if you'll just stop and listen to me."

"I'm listening to you right now aren't I?" she glanced over at him, her face serious.

"Yeah but…." This was getting annoying. "Gabriella." He reached out and grabbed her arms, stopping her in the middle of the hallway. Conveniently, it was completely empty. "Look, I'm sorry about today, I just… I guess I freaked out when you mentioned Ben. I was so close to losing you to him, I just…"

"Troy, I_ chose_ you." She interrupted him. "Even after I told myself I wasn't going to choose, I ended up with you!" she was desperately trying to get her point across.

"I know, I'm sorry I doubted that." He told her honestly.

"I can't just forget that I loved him too." She shook her head.

Troy nodded. "I know. I hate it, I'm not going to lie." He sighed. "But I understand." He told her.

"So what now then?" she asked, obviously upset.

He swallowed. "Gabriella, there is just one thing I need to hear." He told her.

"What?"

"I'm not asking you to forget about Ben right away, but I need to know that this is it." He breathed out. "Tell me you aren't going to decide that you made some kind of mistake, because I need to know before I fall even more in love with you."

Hearing this had quite the effect on Gabriella. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Troy….you have my heart." She told him finally. "I'm not going anywhere." She stared at his bright blue eyes with her tear filled ones, wanting to make sure that he understood.

"If you promise me it'll stay that way, then I'll promise to never freak out about you and Ben again." Troy said after a moment.

Gabriella nodded, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. "I promise Troy." She whispered before burying her face into his shoulder. "I love you."


	19. All Him

**Hey, here's the next chapter. It's not much, so I'll get more up today, just look out for it :P**

**Thanks again for reviewing!**

**Chapter 19: All Him**

Troy took a long, deep breath.

The day that had always been in the distant future was today. _Twinkle Towne _was officially opening in about five minutes. Ms. Darbus had wasted her energy on nothing else but her beloved musicale. The cast had all been in school more then they had been at home, for the past week. Now it was opening night, and they would repeat it three more times on Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday afternoon. Troy was freaking out.

What exactly had possessed him to this? He was a basketball player. That was his thing. So why was he waiting at one of the stage wings, with a microphone in his hand? Had this all started when the spotlight at the ski lodge landed on him? Or had it been when he had stepped out from behind that wall so that Gabriella could audition?

When he looked across the stage to the other wing, a smile came to his face. Gabriella was standing directly opposite from him. He saw her laughing with Sharpay. That was when he figured it all out. No one had forced him to do any of this, not even Gabby. Everything he had done since New Year's had been him. So no, nothing had possessed him, and he wasn't crazy. He was being himself. He was in love. He was free.

"Everybody ready?" Tom, one of the backstage guys, asked them all. Everyone around Troy nodded, anxious to get onstage. "Ready." Tom whispered into his earpiece.

Troy looked across the stage again. Gabriella wasn't talking to Sharpay anymore. She was standing perfectly still, waiting for everything to begin. They caught each other's eyes, and she gave him a big smile and a quick thumbs up. It was hard not return.

The music started to play, and the big red curtain began to rise, revealing what was behind it to the audience. When their cue came, Troy and Gabriella took their first steps onto the big stage, falling perfectly into their element.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Weeks of rehearsal, late afternoons, stress over memorizing lines, repeating everything over and over again, and a few crazy nights of shows had come before closing night. Just as quickly as the musical had come into their lives, it was over.

After the final show it was complete and utter chaos. Backstage, everyone had been on some sort of high. It had gone so well that night. But they also all knew that now it was over. The cast had an amazing party to celebrate their success, and Ms. Darbus couldn't be more proud of the whole lot of them.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

After the party that Saturday, Troy and Gabriella had gone back to her house to just hang out and watch a few movies. Even though they had constantly been on stage together the past few days, they had barely been together otherwise.

"Troy." Gabriella smiled. "Troy!" she said a little louder. It was only fifteen minutes into the movie and he had his eyes closed.

"What?" he mumbled, keeping them closed.

"You know, I think that the point of the invention of movies was to watch them." She informed him. "With your eyes." She laughed.

"Ugh, but they're too tired to open." He told her a lame excuse. "Sorry." A light smile came to his lips.

She shook her head, though he couldn't see. She knew he was waiting for a reply, but stayed completely silent. Then, she leaned over him and surprised him with a kiss, running her hand through his hair in the way that they both knew made his spine tingle.

"Awake now?" she pulled away, sitting back up in her own spot again.

"Yeah." Troy sat up a little.

"Good." Gabby smirked. "Now let's watch the movie." She leaned forward to grab the remote so she could un-pause the movie.

"Uh, I don't think so." Troy stopped her by grabbing her around the middle.

She turned around and looked at him. "Really? So what exactly are you wanting to do then?"

Troy laughed. "More…." he pulled her in close. "Of this." He closed the gap between their lips. Gabby willingly let it happen.

"You know…" she started saying between kisses. "As much…as I would love…to continue this." She pulled away from him again and smiled. "I really want to see this movie." She laughed.

"Oh you're no fun." He gave her a fake glare.

"I wont get mad if you fall asleep." She gave him a look and shrugged, still smiling. She knew that Troy was just as exhausted as she was from four days of school and shows.

"Seriously?" he raised an eyebrow.

She gave him a final, soft, quick kiss. "Seriously." She repeated.

"Okay." That was an offer Troy couldn't refuse. He leaned back into the cushions, and Gabriella leaned on him. Another fifteen minutes into the movie and both of them were sound asleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Sharpay, can we please go back to your house?" Kelsi plopped down in exhaustion on one of the couches that were situated at the back of the store they were currently in.

"No. I'm not finished yet." Sharpay snapped.

The four girls were on a shopping excursion. What for? They weren't exactly sure. That morning, Taylor, Gabriella and Kelsi had all gotten a similar call from Sharpay. She had needed to go out with the girls. Right then. So, in loyalty to one of their best friends, Gabby and Taylor had cancelled with Troy and Chad, telling them they would call later. Kelsi wasn't usually one for shopping, but had agreed to come out since Sharpay had made it seem like there was some sort of crisis.

"Um, not to upset you or anything Shar, but we've been out here with you all day and you haven't told us what's wrong yet." Gabriella pointed out. She hadn't said much all day. No one had really, scared of how Sharpay might react.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" Sharpay looked at her. "Why aren't you guys trying anything on?" she asked when she realized that none of her friends had anything in their hands.

"We're tired." Taylor told her honestly.

Sharpay slapped on a very fake looking smile. "You guys are so silly. Why didn't you just tell me!" she laughed. "Come on let's go back to my place then." She put the stuff she had been holding down on a table and walked in the direction of the exit.

"Okay…" Kelsi said while she got up. The three of them exchanged a look. Something was definitely wrong.

"Let's go." Gabby sighed and went to follow their blonde friend.

The ride back to Sharpay's was quiet. She put music on so no one really had to talk. When they finally got there, she led them all to the giant kitchen so that they could refuel.

"Okay so what do you guys want?" Sharpay asked her three friends.

"Um Sharpay, what is going on with you today?" Taylor didn't answer her question, but decided to just figure this out now.

"What are you talking about, nothing is wrong." Sharpay's fake smile was back.

Gabriella joined in now. "Emergency shopping trips? Weird behavior? Come on Sharpay just tell us." She said.

"There's nothing to tell. I swear." Sharpay got a little defensive now.

Taylor sighed. "Oh please, you're just like Gabby, terrible at hiding it when something's wrong." She stated. "No offence Gabs."

Kelsi nodded. "I agree with you there."

There was a silence in the huge room, and then a sigh came from Sharpay. "Fine." She sat down at one of the spots around the big center island. "Last night, Zeke told me that in the summer he is going on one of those amazing trips, where there's students from all over the country in one big group." She let it all out. "He's going to be gone all summer. He's going to meet so many new girls, and worst of all, he's going to forget about me." She rambled on.

"Whoa, stop for a second." Taylor held her friend by the shoulders. "Zeke is _not_ going to forget about you Shar." She told her seriously.

"Yes he is!" she was beginning to get hysterical. "Two months Taylor! Two months! That's like sixty days where he will probably be hanging out with pretty, smart girls, who are ten times more interesting then me."

"You have absolutely nothing to worry about." Gabriella told her sweetly, trying to help out. "Sharpay, I don't know about you, but I seem to remember Zeke chasing after you, even when all you did was ignore him. Remember that?" she asked. "Well look at you two now. He chased until he caught you. You fell in love with each other. I don't think you have to worry about him forgetting you." She told her comfortingly.

"What if that's not enough?" Sharpay wiped a tear from her cheek. "What if I haven't told him that I love him enough that he's sure of it?"

"If you don't think he's sure, then devote the time before he leaves to making sure he does." Taylor said simply.

Sharpay sniffled a bit. "You guys are right." She wiped her cheeks again. "That is my mission. I am going to make sure that Zeke Baylor knows I love him with all my heart."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later, Gabriella sat on her bed, thinking about what had happened today and how Sharpay had been feeling. She had seen that fear of losing the guy she loved in her friend's eyes. She was scared of that same feeling coming to her one day. She wanted to prevent it as much as she could. Suddenly, she picked up her phone and called Troy.

His phone rang too many times for her liking. It was taking him too long to pick up. "Hello?" she finally heard his voice come through.

"Hi." She exhaled loudly, not knowing why she was acting so weird. Why was this scaring her?

"Gabby?" he sounded a little confused. "Are you there?"

"Yeah." She managed to get out.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She told him, getting her breathing back to normal.

"Okay." Troy fell silent He seemed to understand that she must be calling for some reason and would get to it when she was ready.

Finally she calmed herself down. "I just want to make sure you know something okay?" she said.

"Okay." He waited.

"I love you." She told him.

"Okay. I love you too Gabby." Troy replied. He didn't really understand what was going on.

She gripped her phone harder. "Just promise me that you wont forget that?" she told him.

"Gabriella is something wrong?" he couldn't figure out what was going on with her.

"Troy." She said quietly, having no explanation for this really. "Do you promise or not?" she asked.

He decided to go along with it. "Yes. Of course I promise." He told her.

She smiled. Her freaked out feeling went away. "Good." She breathed out again, completely clamed down. Who knew what would happen with Sharpay and Zeke. All that Gabby knew right now what that her and Troy would be okay.


	20. The New Guy

**Chapter 20: The New Guy**

"It's your mom's house." Gabriella said in slight wonder from the passenger seat of Troy's car, the next Friday night. She was looking out at a huge house.

"Yes it is." He looked at her. "It's not amazing you know." he smirked.

She nodded. "Yes, I realize that Troy." She replied. "But do you realize that in all the time since I met you, I have not once been to this house." She informed him. "Do you know how weird that is?" she went on. Troy just laughed at her and shook his head slightly. "What?" she asked him.

"You're so cute when you're trying to make a point." He told her. She just laughed. "Let's go." They both got out of the car and went up to the front door, where Troy pulled out a key and unlocked the door. When they were inside, he felt Gabriella tug at his arm.

"Troy." She whispered to get his attention.

"What?" he looked at her. She didn't look as happy as she had a few moments ago in the car.

"Um, is… Ben here?" she asked with a sigh.

Troy nodded. "I think so." He told her. He hadn't thought about it before now. "Is that okay?" he asked, hoping it was.

Truthfully, Gabriella wasn't really comfortable with that at all. But she knew at some point she would have to hang out around Ben again. So far she had managed to avoid it because they had been so busy. "Uh…yeah." She replied.

"Okay." Troy smiled. "Come on, I'll show you around." He grabbed one of her hands, slinging his duffle bag full of stuff for the weekend over his shoulder.

They went about four steps down the hallway before someone popped out of one of the doorways. "Oh Troy there you are, how are you sweetie?" Diane Montgomery practically attacked her son with a hug before noticing the girl standing beside him. "Gabriella sorry I didn't see you there for a minute." She hugged her too, which surprised Gabby a bit. "How are you?"

"I'm alright." Gabriella managed to get out to the excited woman. "Thanks."

"Good!" Diane smiled. "Silly me, I guess the two of you probably have plans for tonight." She sighed.

The two looked at each other, equally confused about what was going on. Troy's mom was normally a happy person, but tonight she seemed to be excited about something. "Uh, not really." Troy told her.

"Oh okay, that's good then. I wont be ruining anything." She smiled.

"Is there something going on tonight mom?" Troy asked her.

"Well actually….we're having a guest for dinner." Diane informed him. "He'll be here soon, so if you could get cleaned up a bit that would be great." She gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Nice to see you Gabriella." She smiled before leaving just as quickly as she had come.

"Weird." Troy muttered.

"Yeah." Gabby nodded. "I've never seen your mom so… excited." She added.

"Okay well…I guess we have to do this. You don't mind do you?"

What was she to do? Absolutely nothing. "No it's fine." She told him.

"Good." Troy smiled. He took her hand again. "So how about the rest of that tour?" he gave her a look.

"Sounds good to me."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy showed Gabriella most of the big house, which ended in his own room. Then he told her to make herself at home while he quickly showered. She was left sitting on his bed, waiting for him to come out. She realized she should probably make sure that she was looking okay too.

Gabriella got up, un-wrinkling her skirt a little. She went out into the hall and started looking around for a bathroom. She couldn't remember for the life of her if Troy had shown her one or not.

"Lost?" someone said from behind her. She turned around quickly and saw Ben standing a little further down the hall.

"I…I was looking for a bathroom." She told him, feeling lost for words.

He was coming towards her now. "Are you okay, you seem a little…jumpy." He had a weird look on his face.

Gabriella bit her lip. That was a stupid question. "Um, well actually I'm going to tell you the truth, and that is…no I'm not really okay at this particular moment, because _you_ just appeared out of nowhere and you're looking at me, and it's making me feel horrible because the last time I saw you…" she trailed off from her rambling.

"You left to be with Troy." Ben finished for her.

She nodded wildly. "Yes, and now…"

"You're here with him." He finished for her again.

"Yeah." Gabby sighed. "I don't like feeling horrible." She told him.

Ben slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You know, you don't have to." He informed her. "Feel horrible that is." He cleared up. "I'm okay."

Gabriella sighed. "Well that's good I guess, except, I don't believe you for a second." She admitted.

He figured he couldn't really lie to her. "Okay, maybe not completely and entirely okay, but I will be." He gave her a smile. "This doesn't have to be weird you know."

She was silent at first but realized it was hard not to give him a smile back. "You're a good guy Ben." She said quietly.

"It's good to know that you think that." He said.

"Good." Gabriella was feeling a little bit more comfortable now. "So…where can I find a bathroom anyways?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The doorbell rang at almost exactly six o'clock. Troy, Ben and Gabriella all came into the front hall like Diane had asked them to, so they could meet whoever it was who was coming. Apparently it was a big deal, because Diane was making sure that everything was perfect.

"Okay here we go." She opened the door, once she made sure the three teenagers were all standing there. "Kevin! Welcome." She said happily to the man at the door. "Come in." she ushered him in, and Troy, Gabriella and Ben all noticed how Kevin, whoever he was, gave Diane a kiss on the cheek. She turned to the three standing not far away. "Kids, this is Kevin." She finally introduced him. "Kevin, these are my two sons, Ben and Troy." She gestured to them. "And this is Troy's girlfriend Gabriella."

"Nice to finally meet you." Kevin shook each of theirs hands. "Your mom has told me a lot about you. " he added to the boys.

Diane seemed to notice the confusion on both of her son's faces. "Um, I actually invited Kevin over tonight so I could tell you boys…." She put an arm around Kevin's waist. "Kevin and I have been seeing each other for a while. I wanted you to meet him finally."

There was a small silence where Ben and Troy both seemed to take this in. "Okay…" Ben said after a moment.

"So you two are like….together then?" Troy asked to make sure.

"Yes." Diane nodded.

There was another silence, bigger this time. Gabriella wasn't sure what to say. This was a complicated situation. But she felt bad for Kevin, he seemed nice and neither Ben or Troy seemed very excited to meet him. "So, what's for dinner?" she asked finally, hoping it would bring them all out of the silence they were in.

"Oh, yes." Troy's mom said. "Let's go eat." She prompted, beginning to lead them all to the dining room.

On their way out Gabriella swore she saw Troy and Ben share a look of confusion.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later that night, when Troy drove Gabriella home, he was silent the entire way. She was beginning to get sick of weird silences, since tonight had been filled with them.

The entire dinner had been pretty painful. Gabriella had tried her hardest to keep conversation going when she could, but that had been very little. Everyone had been trying. She knew that. But no matter how many questions got asked and answered, conversations had just gone nowhere. She knew that maybe their mom surprising Troy and Ben with news of a boyfriend probably wasn't the best way to tell them.

"So… sorry about tonight." Troy sighed when they were at her front door.

She didn't really care much. "Troy…are you okay?" she looked up at him, knowing that was stupid question since she could tell he obviously was not happy right now.

"I'm fine." He told her. "A little shocked and pretty tired, but fine."

She put her arms around his neck. "You swear that's all?" She brought her face closer to his.

"Yes." Troy nodded. "I swear that's all." He repeated her words. "I know you don't believe me right now, but _tomorrow_ when I'm in a better mood, you will." A small smirk came to his face.

Gabby laughed at that comment, thankful to see a little bit of normal Troy. "Okay good." She gave him a kiss. "Call me tomorrow then." She told him, then pulled away to open her front door.

"I will." He watched her go inside before going back down to the driveway to go home. He took a long deep breath. It had been a long day.


	21. Not Mad

**Chapter 21: Not Mad**

On Monday morning, Troy walked into homeroom and saw that everyone was excited about something. Once he looked around the room, he figured it out. The yearbooks had just been handed out and everyone was happily looking at them and passing them around to be signed.

"Ah, Bolton I'm glad that you decided to join us this morning." Ms. Darbus noticed him coming in later then usual.

"Sorry Ms. Darbus." He told her.

Unexpectedly, she just shrugged it off and handed him a red and white hardcover book. "The year is almost over, if I haven't drilled the importance of being on time into your head by now, then I'll just have to wait until next year." She gave a small laugh before turning and leaving him slightly perplexed.

"Troy, there you are man!" Chad rushed over and started pulling his friend over to their usual spot.

"Here you go Chad." Sharpay thrust a yearbook into Chad's chest and put the cap on the top of her pink marker. "Oh hey Troy, I'm signing, let me do yours." She wrenched his book out of his hand before he could even do anything about it.

"Okay…" He just shrugged and leaned against the desk beside him.

"Good morning." Came a voice in his ear, just as he felt hands on his back. Troy turned around to see Gabriella standing there. She didn't look particularly happy, and he knew exactly why.

"Hey…Gabby." He said carefully with a small smile.

"Hi." She stepped past him to get to the back of the classroom where she usually sat.

Troy sighed and turned to follow her. "Okay, I get that you're probably mad at me but…"

"Mad?" Gabriella looked at him. "Why would I be _mad_?" she said sarcastically. "I mean, my boyfriend didn't call me when he promised he would, and when I called to make sure he was still _alive_, he told me he wasn't really in the mood to talk." There was an edge in her voice. "But no, I'm not mad because I know that what you're not happy about has nothing to do with me." She finished, crossing her arms against her body.

Okay, what was he supposed to say to that? "Gabby…" he started.

"Here Gabs, I'm guessing you'll be wanting this." Sharpay came over with Troy's yearbook and handed it over to her friend.

"Thanks Shar." Gabriella took it with a sigh. Sharpay had already moved on to somewhere else in the classroom.

"Alright people, I know that getting yearbooks is exciting for you all, but there are a few announcements to be made before you all head off to your first period classes." The voice of Ms. Darbus boomed over all of the students.

Gabriella looked at Troy. "Look, we'll talk about this later okay?" she said quickly before heading to her seat. Troy figured he better get to his quickly before Ms. Darbus scolded him for the second time in one morning.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later didn't seem to come at any point that day at school. Troy and Gabriella seemed to be busy at completely different times. Finally, at the end of the day, Gabby gave up trying to find him and went home. She lay on her bed for the longest time, trying to figure this out. Then she reached into her school bag, and pulled out Troy's yearbook, which she still had from homeroom this morning. She hadn't written in it yet, because she hadn't been able to figure what to write all day. Instead of thinking about it, she flipped through the pages, looking at all of the pictures. A smile came to her face and she picked up a marker, feeling the words come to her.

Just as she was setting the book back down on her bed, her phone rang. She knew it was Troy from that old picture he'd taken of himself on New Years. "Hello?" she picked it up.

"Hey." She heard him sigh. "We missed each other today."

"Yeah." She agreed. "We never talked." She added.

"Yeah I know…" Troy fell silent.

Gabriella looked down at the red and white book in her hand. "I still have your yearbook." She informed him. "Mind if I bring it over?" she used it as an excuse, hoping it would work.

"That sounds good." Troy replied.

Gabby sighed. "Alright. See you soon then." She got up from her bed, preparing to leave as soon as she got off the phone with him.

"Bye."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy was lying on his bed, like he had spent most of his time since Friday night. Then his bedroom door opened slightly and closed again. He at up onto his elbows and saw that it was Gabriella. She didn't look quite as comfortable as she normally did when she was here. But she was coming towards him slowly. He saw his yearbook in her hands.

"Don't read this until later." She told him before putting it down on his bedside table.

Troy just nodded, watching and waiting for what she would do next. Surprisingly, she got up onto his bed and stretched herself out beside him. She rested her head on one side of his chest, her hair spilling all over his arm. She wrapped an arm across his stomach, pulling herself close.

"I don't like being mad at you." She shook her head slightly. "But I don't like waiting around for you to call either."

"I know." Troy sighed. "I'm sorry."

Gabriella was silent for a while, taking that in and analyzing it and picking it apart. She knew he meant it. She also knew that this weird mood of his had nothing to do with her. "On Friday you told me you were okay." She said finally. "Shocked, but okay."

"Yeah, I guess it's a bit more complicated then that." Troy closed his eyes, waiting and preparing for what she was going to say next.

"What is it that is making you so unhappy about this?" Gabby asked, toying with the fabric of his shirt between two of her fingers.

Troy gathered his thoughts. He's learnt over the past little while that it was better to just tell Gabriella everything. It caused so much less confusion and hurt. "Okay well… It's not that I don't like Kevin, he seemed like a good guy I guess. It's just that, well I don't think that either Ben or I really want her to be with anyone…" he tried to get his point across as clearly as he could.

Apparently it wasn't clear enough, since Gabby turned her head to look at him. "You don't want your mom to be happy?" she was confused.

"No." Troy shook his head. "That's not it at all. I want her to be happy, I do. It's just well, I think I've always had this vision of my parents finding their way back to each other." He told her. "I sometimes feel like Ben and I are the reason they split up in the first place, and maybe they never really meant it." He finished with a sigh.

Gabriella got up a little bit so that she could fully look at him. "Troy…whatever happened with your parents is not your fault." She told him seriously. "Don't even think that okay?" she wanted to make sure he understood. She knew he did when he nodded slightly. "I know you'd probably do anything for them to be back together, but maybe you just have to accept that it's probably not going to happen." She watched his eyes while they took in her words.

"I know." Troy sighed.

"Just try to adjust to this, I know you want to see her happy." Gabby suggested. "Then, if you really can't live with it, then tell her." She told him. "Because she wants you to be happy no matter what."

Troy let out the smallest smile. "What would I do without you Gabriella Montez?" he asked her quietly.

She leaned over him, bringing her face down close to his. "I love you Troy Bolton." She replied in a whisper, not really answering his question at all. She gave him a soft kiss before pulling away and laying her head on his chest again. Now she was on top of him, matching her breathing with his. Lower down, their feet were tangled at the end of the bed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later when Gabriella left, Troy was feeling a lot better. He knew that she was right about his mom. He was set on making sure that she was happy. When he went back into his room after saying bye to Gabriella, his eyes fell to the yearbook on the table beside his bed.

He was curious to see what Gabby had written, so he picked it up and sat on the edge of his bed, opening it up to the back where the signatures went. Practically an entire page was filled with Gabriella's neat, curly writing.

_Troy,_

_Have you ever met someone and felt something inside of you telling you that they were going to be one of the greatest people to come into your life? Well, I haven't. When I met you on New Years Eve, I knew that there was something there, but I never expected for it to go anywhere. It was obvious right away that we were from two different worlds. But apparently that hasn't stopped us. I don't think there's any need to re-tell what has happened in the short time we have known each other. I know that I will never forget it though._

_Can't wait for summer!_

_Love, Gabriella_

_P.S. You're an amazing person Troy, never forget that._


	22. Ruined Surprises

**Chapter 22: Ruined Surprises**

"Okay so remember guys, tonight we're having the surprise going away party for Zeke." Sharpay whispered to her friends during their last homeroom of the year. "Just come to my place right after school.

"Sounds good. Taylor agreed for all of them before Ms. Darbus began her lecture on the importance of looking over things during the summer holidays so that you could stimulate your brain. Absolutely none of her students were listening.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later in the day, Troy and Gabriella were walking down the hall when Zeke suddenly popped out at them.

"Gabriella there is something I need to talk to you about." He looked at her desperately.

"Okay, go ahead." Gabriella told him, feeling slightly confused. Why would Zeke need to talk to her?

"Alright well, know that I am coming to you because firstly, you're a girl, and secondly, I've always been kind of scared of Taylor, and I don't know, you seemed like the better choice over Kelsi." He informed her.

"Okay." Gabriella raised an eyebrow and nodded. She nudged Troy in the ribs when he let out a little burst of laughter.

"Ow…" he muttered, rubbing where it hurt.

"Sorry, what's up Zeke?" she turned to her friend, fully attentive.

"Okay well this is going to seem really bad." Zeke looked around as if he was expecting to see someone watching him as he walked. "But, for the past while, Sharpay has been acting really….I don't know, clingy?" he said carefully. "And over the past few days its gotten like ten times worse. I can barely get away from her." He was wide eyed, like he couldn't believe these words were coming out of his mouth.

Troy couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his friend's face. It only lasted for about a second though, before Gabriella slapped a hand over his mouth and stopped him. He quickly retaliated though and licked the palm of her hand. "Ew, Troy!" she pulled it away in disgust and wiped it on his shirt. "You're disgusting."

He shrugged. "I am not going to just suffocate you know." He said with a smirk and she just rolled her eyes.

"Okay…I hate to break up this little bantering session, but I am having a real problem here and could really use your help." Zeke interrupted them.

"Sorry." Gabriella turned back to him. "So you're getting scared of Sharpay because she is being clingy?" she asked.

"Yes." Zeke was dying to get to the bottom of this.

Unexpectedly, Gabriella rolled her eyes. "You are such a boy." She told him. "Sharpay is freaked out." She said more seriously. "All of a sudden, you're leaving for to months, and you're all excited and happy about it, but where does that leave her?" she asked.

"Alone?" Zeke braved.

It took all of Gabriella's strength not to roll her eyes again. "Yes." She replied. "So of course she is scared that you are going to go away and forget her, then come back and be completely different."

"Wow. Okay." Was all Zeke could say. They were almost at the cafeteria now, and would have to end this conversation soon since Sharpay would most definitely be there.

"Just let her be the way she is." Gabby suggested. "It's only for what, one more day?" she shrugged. "I'm sure you'll miss it when you're gone anyways."

Zeke took a deep breath. "Yeah you're right, thank you Gabby." Zeke smiled and headed off quickly ahead of them to the cafeteria. Gabriella turned in a different direction.

"Hey where are you going?" Troy asked her.

Gabby turned and looked at him. "To wash my hand." She smirked. "It has gross boy germs all over it now." She laughed, talking like she was ten year old.

Troy laughed. "You're so mature." He teased.

"Hey, I'm not the one who _licked_ someone's hand. She raised her eyebrows at him before disappearing into the bathroom. Troy waited and about a minute later Gabby came back out. "Let's go, I'm starving" She smiled at him.

"Alright." Troy smiled back. They began walking in the direction of the cafeteria again.

"Hey Troy?" Gabriella suddenly stopped, a fake serious tone to her voice.

"What?" he stopped too and looked at her, suddenly feeling nervous. She looked really serious about something.

Gabriela gave a sigh. "They ran out of paper towels in the bathroom." She informed him, while lifting her hands, which she purposely hadn't dried off when she'd washed them. She rubbed them all over his face, her expression turning to a smirk.

Troy was shocked for a moment. "Oh…my…." he trailed off. Gabriella laughed and started to run down the hall. He chased after her, easily catching up with her. He laughed when he caught her by surprise, picking her up around the waist and lifting her up off the ground. Gabriella squirmed a little so he put her back down, still holding her tight so she couldn't get away.

Gabby turned in Troy's arms and smiled up at him. "Got you." She laughed.

"Actually I believe I just got you." Troy replied with a smirk.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

That afternoon when they had a free period, Gabriella couldn't seem to find Troy anywhere. They hadn't really made plans, since everyone was usually in the library studying. Since it was the last day before summer break though, they obviously didn't have any studying to do.

She had gone out to the front of the school with Kelsi and Ryan, who had told her that a few of them were going tout to lounge in the sunshine. She had been waiting for Troy while everybody else came. He never showed up with any of them. Chad, who had class with him right before said he had no idea where Troy was.

So now Gabby was wandering around the school, wondering where he could possibly be. She had been sure that maybe he would be in their self proclaimed spot, but he wasn't there. She was left wandering around, peering into every classroom. Then, just as she was passing the gym, she heard it, The sound of a basketball being dribbled. Only one. A smile came to her face and she quietly opened the door, wanting to sneak in.

Sure enough, there was Troy, standing in front of the net, a ball in his hands. She stayed silent, watching him from behind. He was getting all of the shots in, but then missed one. The ball came rolling back towards Gabriella and she snatched it up just as Troy turned around.

"Hey Gabby." He was happily surprised to see her.

"Hey." She smiled at him. "I was looking for you. I didn't expect you to be here." She said, handing him the ball.

Troy laughed. "Yeah…I tend to come in here sometime on the last day of school, every single year." He told her, rolling the ball around in his hands.

Gabby nodded, still smiling. She though she knew what this was about. "Before you leave for the long summer?" she asked.

Troy knew she understood. "Exactly." He nodded back.

She backed up a bit. "Well, we're all outside so whenever you're done…" she trailed off, never tearing her eyes from his.

"I think I'm good actually." Troy told her, running over to put his ball away and quickly going back over. He held out his hand as he neared and interlocked their fingers when she slipped her hand into it. The two of them walked through the halls in a comfortable silence.

"You found him." Taylor said happily to Gabriella when they found their friends.

"I've been found." Troy laughed. Him and Gabby sat down with their friends. Gabriella laughed and leaned against Troy's legs, felling the warmth of the sun.

"I can't believe it's already summer." Taylor said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, thank god." Chad sighed contentedly. "Couldn't have taken longer for it to come." He rolled his eyes.

"I don't know. It seems like things have gone by pretty fast for me." Troy said.

Gabriella looked back at him. "I agree. I can't believe I've only been here since January." She kissed him on the cheek.

"I guess we won't be hanging out like this for the whole summer." Kelsi pointed out, looking around at the large group of friends.

"Yeah." Zeke sighed. "I'll be gone for the whole time."

"The rest of us will still be around. Working, but around." Ryan pointed out. It was true, most of them already had or were planning on getting summer jobs. Gabriella and Taylor had both gotten jobs at Taylor's parent's restaurant. Troy, Chad and Jason had been roped into being counselors at a basketball summer camp. Kelsi had promised to devote herself to finishing an entire new musical, and Sharpay and Ryan had decided it was time to just relax. Sharpay refused to lift a finger since she'd worked so hard in school all year.

"You're right." Kelsi shrugged.

Suddenly a cell phone started ringing and all nine of them checked their pockets and bags to see if it was theirs. It ended up being Zeke's and he picked it up quickly after a few rings had already gone by. "Hello?" he said quickly. "Oh hey mom." He started listening carefully. "What?" his face suddenly fell. All of his friends noticed. "Okay." He sighed after a while. "Yeah I'll be ready." He said before hanging up.

"What was that man?" Chad asked when Zeke had put his phone away.

"Uh, guys. That was my mom." Zeke told them.

"Yeah we figured that." Sharpay looked at him, feeling a little worried because of the expression on her boyfriends face. "What is it baby?" she asked.

"My flights got mixed up and apparently instead of tomorrow morning I'm leaving tonight." He said unhappily.

"What?" Taylor said before anyone. She thought immediately of the surprise party they had planned for him tonight.

Zeke sighed. "Yeah I know. I'm shocked too." He said. "But my mom says I should leave now and finish packing."

"But what about the party?" Kelsi burst out.

Taylor nudged her. "Kelsi!" she hissed.

"What it's not like we can have it now anyways." Kelsi shot back.

"You guys had a party planned?" Zeke asked in shock.

Sharpay blushed, which was very unusual for her. "We wanted to surprise you." She told him. "But now you have to leave tonight." she added sadly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry guys." Zeke got up from the grass. They all followed his lead.

Gabby was the first to start the goodbyes. "Bye Zeke, have an amazing time." She hugged him before stepping back to let everyone else say goodbye as well.

"I'll see you later okay?" Zeke told Sharpay especially when he hugged her last.

"But you have to get ready." She told him sadly.

Zeke smiled for the first time since him mom had called. "I'll make some time." He kissed her forehead before turning away and leaving.

As they all silently watched him walk away and down to the parking lot, Gabriella moved closer to Troy and slipped her hand into the one dangling by his side, hoping she would never have to say goodbye to him like that.


	23. Odd Appearances

**Chapter 23: Odd Appearances**

"You must be psychic because I was about to call you." Gabriella smiled at Troy when she answered the door that night. Since Zeke had needed to leave suddenly, there was no surprise party, and she had been left with nothing to do. She had hung around her house for a while, trying to decide what to do, and finally deciding to call Troy. Then the doorbell had rung.

Troy laughed. "Well I guess it's a good thing I showed up then." He said as he stepped in.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck. "I guess it is." She replied, bringing her face close to his. He quickly closed the gap, and when they pulled apart moments later, Gabby leaned her forehead on his chest, closing her eyes and slowly breathing in. "I'm glad it wasn't you leaving today." She told him quietly.

Troy smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Me too." He replied.

Gabby smiled to herself and lifted her head a little, placing small kisses up his chest, neck, jaw, and finally returning back to his mouth. "What do you want to do?" she asked between kisses.

Troy shrugged. "What do _you_ want to do?" he asked, gladly receiving her kisses.

Gabriella fully pulled away and looked at him. "Well… my mom is out, and who knows where Jaz is….so we can do whatever we want." She told him, laughing at the smile that came to his face.

Without a word, they were kissing again. Troy slowly backed her up up, and soon Gabriella's back was against the wall. Her arms were around him, pulling him closer, while Troy had a hand on either side of her on the wall.

The doorbell rang again. Troy didn't let it interrupt them. "Don't answer it." He muttered against her lips.

Gabby laughed and moved her hands to his chest, gently pushing him away. "I have to." She smirked, going for the door. Troy sighed and followed her. Gabriella's smile faded when she opened the door. "Sharpay…" she said quietly.

Sharpay was standing on the doorstep, looking like Gabby had never seen her before. She had obviously been crying and still was. It was heartbreaking. "He's gone Gabs." She said after a moment.

Gabriella held out her arms and Sharpay willingly stepped into them, crying into her friends shoulder. "Aw, Shar it's okay." Gabby whispered. "I know it sucks but he'll be back. As soon as you know it."

"No he won't." Sharpay cried. "Two months Gabby! Two whole months!"

Gabriella sighed. "Well is there anything I can do to help?" she asked sympathetically.

"I could really use a girls night actually." Sharpay told her.

Gabby winced. So much for what had been happening before Sharpay had rung the doorbell. She wished her friend could just go home so that her and Troy could be alone, but she knew that she owed her. "Okay…" Gabby sighed. "How about you go to the living room and I'll call Taylor and Kelsi." She told her.

"Okay." Sharpay nodded. She pulled away from Gabby and went in the direction of the living room. "Hi Troy." She greeted him as she passed where he was standing.

Him and Gabriella caught each other's eyes. "Can you go in there and keep her company while I call Taylor and Kelsi." Gabby asked him.

Troy looked a little shocked. "Uh…"

"Troy, please?" Gabby asked desperately.

He sighed. "Okay…" he gave her a small kiss before heading in the direction Sharpay had just gone in. Gabriella went to the Kitchen to call the other two girls. She tried Taylor first, but she wasn't at home, and her cell wasn't on. She went on to calling Kelsi instead.

"Hello?" Kelsi picked up after a few rings.

"Hey, Kelsi, I need your help." Gabriella told her quickly.

"What's wrong?" Kelsi asked immediately.

Gabby sighed. "Well, Sharpay just appeared at my house and she's really upset about Zeke leaving so suddenly." She informed her friend. "I think she really just wants to hang out with the girls tonight, so I know you're probably busy, but do you think you could come over?"

"Uh…" Gabby heard Kelsi sigh. "I guess so." She said finally. "I can leave now."

"Okay, thanks Kelsi." Gabby smiled slightly because her other friend was coming. "Oh, do you have any idea where Taylor is?" she asked quickly.

"She's here." Kelsi replied. "I'll bring her with me."

"Okay great, see you guys soon." Gabby said, hanging up a moment later and heading straight for the living room, hoping everything was going okay for Troy. She was relieved to see that Sharpay had apparently just found something on TV that had taken her attention away from crying. Troy was sitting and watching it boredly. Gabriella went and leaned over the back of the couch. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear before going around to the front and sitting down beside him.

Not long after, the doorbell rang yet another time, and Gabriella went to answer it, knowing it would be Taylor and Kelsi.

"What took you guys so long?" she asked when she glanced at the clock in the hallway.

"We went for supplies." Taylor held up a few bags in her hands. Kelsi had a bunch more.

"Supplies?" Gabby looked at them oddly.

"Chocolate, candy, ice cream, magazines, chick flicks, nail polish, facial masks…" Kelsi began to list the items in the bags.

Gabby laughed. "Okay, let's hope that does the trick." She shrugged and let them in, taking some of the bags from them.

A few minutes later everything was spread out over the large coffee table in Gabriella's living room. Sharpay had cheered up quite a bit but still needed a little bit more.

"Hey Gabby, maybe I should just…go." Troy said awkwardly, obviously wanting to get out of the place that had suddenly turned amazingly girly.

"Aw, the playmaker is scared of girly stuff." Taylor laughed.

"I am not." Troy argued. He backed up a little when Kelsi came up to him and stared straight at his eyes. "What are you…?" He started.

"My god, I never realized how blue your eyes are Troy." Kelsi interrupted him, trying not to laugh while she intentionally freaked him out.

"Okay, okay. Stop ogling my boyfriend's eyes, please Kelsi." Gabriella told her friend when she got a scared glance from Troy.

"Uh, yeah. I think I'm going to go." He backed up a little more.

"I think Chad is at Jason's playing video games." Taylor informed him, knowing that when he left the girls he would immediately need to find the guys.

"Right. Got it." Troy smiled.

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute." Gabriella told her friends while she went over to Troy, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the room so that they could say goodbye.

"Sorry about this." She told him in the front hall.

Troy pulled her close. "It's alright." He smiled at her. "Go cheer Sharpay up. I'll see you tomorrow." He told her.

Gabby shook her head. "We both start working tomorrow." She reminded him.

"Oh yeah…" Troy sighed. "Well how about tomorrow night?" he suggested.

"Sounds great." Gabriella smiled and gave him a kiss. "Bye." She told him.

Troy pulled away and went for the front door, smiling back at her before disappearing behind it. Gabby sighed when he was gone and turned to head back to the living room where her friends were, suddenly wondering what might have happened if Sharpay hadn't turned up.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning Gabriella tiredly pulled herself out of bed and went to have a shower. After Troy had left the night before, the four girls had spent the entire night devoted to making Sharpay feel better. By about midnight, she seemed a lot better then she had when she had showed up at Gabriella's house.

When her friends had left, Gabby had gone upstairs to her room, gotten ready for bed, and then picked up her phone and called Troy, who had just gotten home from Jason's house. The two of them had talked for hours, until Troy had insisted that she get some sleep because she was asking him to repeat things five times in a row, and obviously needed the rest. He had been right because she fell asleep almost immediately after they both hung up.

That morning, she got ready quickly because she had slept in a little later then planned and needed to rush. Taylor had told her that she could wear whatever she wanted, but jeans would be best since they were going to be given the restaurant shirt.

Gabriella smiled when she thought about the story Taylor had told her about her parent's restaurant. Apparently both of them had loved cooking when they were younger, and had both entered several cooking contests over the years. But there was one contest in particular, where they met each other and became each other's top components. The two of them had become extremely competitive toward one another, but it turned out that someone else had ended up winning. Apparently, after that, Mr. McKessie had taken Taylor's mother out for fun, and the rest was history. After they had both gone through school, they married and realized that they wanted to open their very own restaurant, together. Gabby thought that was a wonderful story.

She had only been to the restaurant once, but had loved it so much. It was a casual family place, where everyone seemed to have a good time. It seemed like the kind of place that would cheer you up if you were having a terrible day. She smiled when she went in for the second time, getting the same feeling from it.

"Gabriella, hello sweetheart!" Taylor's amazing, loving mother greeted Gabby when she saw her. She hugged her only daughter's best friend. "You're early you know." she smiled.

"Really?" Gabby asked, receiving a nod from Mrs. McKessie. "My clock must be fast." She laughed.

"Well that's alright, Taylor's here, she's in the back with her dad, waiting for you. Since you're here early we can get both of you started before we open." Taylor's mom told her, leading her to the kitchen doors.

"Hey Gabs, feeling as tired as me?" Taylor smiled when she saw her friend.

"Probably more." Gabriella replied with a giggle. "I was on the phone until who knows when."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "I don't have to guess who with." She smirked.

Before Gabby could say anything towards that comment, Taylor's father came over with a few yellow t-shirts in his hands. "Here you go girls." He gave them one each and watched as they slipped them on over what they were wearing. "Alright, ready to get started?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy was sitting in the sunlight with Chad and Jason beside him on the bench of the bleachers. He yawned lazily, half listening to the speech that the camp director was making.

"This is way to early for me." Chad groaned from where he was sitting.

"It's like ten thirty man." Jason informed him.

Chad just shrugged. "Whatever, that's still early."

"Yeah I guess." Jason sighed and leaned on his hands, squinting from the sun.

"Guys this might be kind of fun." Troy told them both.

"Are you kidding me?" Chad looked at his best friend, completely not expecting him to have just said that.

Troy shrugged. "Yeah I mean, they're all little kids." He told them. "We're just going to be teaching them a bit of basketball and hanging out and stuff."

Jason nodded. "I kind of agree with you there man." He said. Chad gave him a weird look too. "There's the tournament at the end too." He reminded them.

"Oh yeah." Troy smiled. He was about to say something but stopped himself. "Hey I think he's ending it." He nudged his head towards where Mr. Weldon, the camp director was standing and welcoming the kids.

"Alright now we are going to divide you into your teams." He was saying when the three guys focused their attention back to the speech. "If you look to the right, you will see the bleacher full of the counselors who will be each be coaching a different team. Each of them have a color, so when you hear your name go to the color that is called." He told the kids. "Okay, here we go."

Troy Chad and Jason joined the rest of the counselors on the ground. They were all lined up, each of them waiting for their team members to come and join them. Troy's team was light blue, Chad's was green, and Jason's was orange. It didn't take long for all of the kids to be divided into their teams. Soon, every counselor had about ten excited kids each, jumping around beside them.

"Alright guys, how about we head over there." Troy pointed across the big outdoor basketball court they were currently on, to a patch of grass on the far side. He was about to lead them away when he heard someone call his name. He turned his head and saw Chad, about to walk in the opposite direction with his little team. "What?" he asked, seeing the smirk on Chad's face.

"I bet my team will beat yours in the tournament." Chad told him.

"You really think so?" Troy asked him jokingly.

"I know it." Chad replied.

Troy was smirking now. "Okay." He nodded. "It's on then." He challenged before he turned away and continued to lead his team across the court.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

By the end of that day, Gabriella was exhausted. Not getting much sleep the night before starting this job hadn't been the best idea. The only time she'd sat down all day was for a quick lunch break. But now the day was over, and she was off. She was leaning on the wall at the front of the building, taking in the late afternoon sunshine while she waited for Troy, who said he'd walk over to meet her since he finished before she did.

She heard someone come up beside her and looked to see who it was. Leaning not to far away was a guy who she'd seen a couple of times that day. He worked at the McKessie's restaurant too. She hadn't really had a moment to actually look at him though.

"Waiting for someone?" he asked, coming a little closer to her.

"Yeah." She smiled slightly. "You?"

"Same thing." He told her, catching her eye. She couldn't help but notice his piercing green eyes. He extended a hand to her. "I'm Tristan." He introduced himself with a smile.

"Gabriella." She replied, shaking her hand.

"Are you sure this is your first day?" Tristan asked. "I swear I've seen you somewhere before." He looked at her carefully.

Gabby shook her head. "Maybe you're thinking of someone else." She shrugged.

"Yeah…" he said, still looking at her.

"Hey Tristan!" A familiar voice called. Both of them turned to see Ben coming towards them. "Oh, hey Gabby." He added, looking a little shocked to see her.

"Hey Ben." She said back, feeling confused.

"You guys know each other?" Tristan asked, looking between the two of them.

Ben nodded. "Yeah, we kind of…" he trailed off.

"It's a long story." Gabriella finished for him, before giving him a reassuring smile.

"Oh, okay." Tristan seemed to get what was going on there.

"I didn't know you worked here." Ben told her, changing the subject, knowing that neither of them wanted to stay on it for very long.

Gabby smiled. "Well it's my first day, so that's probably why." She informed him.

"That explains it." Ben gave a light laugh. "Well, do you need a ride home or something?" he asked her.

"No, I'm fine, thanks." She told him nicely. "I'm just waiting for…Troy." She told him, hoping things wouldn't get weird if she said that.

"Oh." Ben said. Then a smile suddenly came to his face. "Well….I think if you turn around you'll be pleasantly surprised then." He told her.

Gabriella turned around, and saw that Troy was heading for the front doors of the restaurant. Obviously he hadn't seen the three of them talking to the side. "Troy!" she called and he stopped and looked around. She waved him over.

"Hey, I thought you'd be inside." He told her when he got over to the three of them, and shared a hug with her.

"It's too sunny to wait outside." She told him, smiling and pulling away a bit so that she could continue to talk to Ben and Tristan. She kept an arm wrapped around her boyfriend.

"Hey Ben." Troy happily greeted his brother.

"Hey." Ben said back. "Have you met Tristan before?"

"I don't think so." Troy replied.

"Okay well, Troy this is my friend Tristan. Tristan, this is my brother Troy." Ben introduced the two of them, while Gabriella watched on silently.

"Brother?" Tristan asked in confusion while they shook hands.

"It's a long story." Ben told him and saw Gabriella give a small wince while she thought about it.

"You guys have a lot of those." Tristan pointed out. The four of them fell into an awkward silence after Tristan's comment.

"We should probably get going." Troy said after a moment, looking down at Gabriella. "If we want to get to that movie." He added.

"Yeah." She smiled. "Let's go." She dropped the arm that was around him and grabbed his hand, loving how their fingers always automatically entwined with each other. "Bye Ben, Bye Tristan." She said to the two other guys before turning and walking away to her car with Troy.

"Okay, an ex-girlfriend _and_ brother?" Tristan asked his friend when the two of them were well out of earshot.

"Yeah…" Ben looked at him, knowing this was the first time that Tristan had heard anything about Gabriella or Troy. He wasn't sure what to say to Tristan.

"I guess I really did miss a lot." Tristan concluded, watching as the couple continued to walk away.

Ben just shrugged. "You were gone for a long time man." He said simply.

"I sure was."


	24. Sickly Sweet

**Hey, so I realized that I should have explained Tristan a little.**

**Okay so he hasn't really been introduced much, but you will be seeing more of him for the next little while. He has a bit of a weird past, but you'll see more of it in chapters to come. You can probably guess right now that he is going to be a troublemaker.**

**Chapter 24: Sickly Sweet**

By the end of the week, Gabriella was exhausted. She had worked hard for hours everyday. The days were long, but she was always satisfied at the end of each day. Her and Troy had made quite the routine in only a few days. Every day they met up after they were both done work, and would spend practically the entire night together, usually alone but sometimes with the rest of their friends.

Gabby hadn't talked to Tristan much, since they had both been constantly busy in the restaurant. She was usually gone by the time he made his way outside. But from the little she had heard from him, Gabriella had decided that Tristan was definitely a mysterious, complicated person. She could tell he had a wild side.

That Friday afternoon, she was waiting for Troy, like they had decided the night before. He was a little late, but she didn't mind. She loved the sun, and enjoyed sitting out in it after a long day indoors.

"Hey there heartbreaker." She heard someone say in a joking way. She turned her head and saw that Tristan was leaning against the wall beside her, just like when they had first met.

"What did you call me?" she asked him, slightly shocked at the name.

"Sorry if that offended you." He shook his head. "Ben told me the whole story." He informed her.

"Okay." She crossed her arms, looking away from him. She didn't like talking about that, especially with someone who she didn't know at all.

He sighed. "Okay fine I'm a huge jerk." He admitted to her. "I can't really help it though, so I'm hoping you'll maybe overlook it?" he said carefully.

Gabriella looked back at him. "What do you want?" she asked, giving him a weird look.

"Well, if you haven't already figured it out, I've been gone for a long time, which you don't really need to know the reason for right now." Tristan began. "Anyways, apparently I've missed a lot in the while that I have been gone, including my best friend falling in love, which doesn't happen everyday." He pointed out.

The look on Gabriella's face didn't vanish. "So what do you want from me then?" she asked, beginning to grow impatient with him. She didn't like the fact that he seemed to be rubbing it in her face that all he knew about her was that she ha broken Ben's heart.

Tristan shrugged. "I'd like to hear another side of this crazy story that you seem to be a main part of." He told her unexpectedly.

She thought about it. "Okay." She nodded, figuring she wouldn't mind that too much.

He raised his eyebrows. "You wouldn't happen to be free now would you?" he asked.

Gabriella immediately shook her head. "Actually I'm waiting my for boyfriend right now." She informed Tristan. "So I can't today."

"Oh, okay." Tristan said, then a smirk came to his face.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

He looked at her thoughtfully. "So the two of you spend like, pretty much all of your spare time together then." He guessed.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "What's the big deal with that?"

"Nothing." Tristan said simply, leaning on the wall behind his back and taking in a deep breath. He closed his eyes like he was the most relaxed person in the world. That annoyed Gabriella to death. She wanted to know what he was getting at here. Instead of asking she did the same, hoping he would maybe say something.

"You know I didn't really take you for the basketball captain kind of girl." Tristan told her after a while, his eyes still closed.

Gabriella laughed. "Well maybe you don't really know me then." She smirked back at him. "Even though you're kind of right. I don't take myself for the 'basketball captain kind of girl', whatever that means, either." She told him truthfully.

"So why are you with him then?" Tristan asked.

"Why do you care?" Gabriella replied, suddenly feeling questioned.

"I'm just wondering." He shrugged innocently. "If you know why, then that question should be okay right?" he asked.

"That's not fair." She told him. "That's a loaded question and you know it." She felt herself getting frustrated with him.

"I guess so." Tristan shrugged again. He watched her sigh and leaned against the wall herself. "You can calm down you know. I didn't mean to upset you or anything. I'm just a very curious person and tend to not think before I speak." He told her with a smile. "I meant no harm."

Gabby stood up straight and looked at him. A moment ago she had come to the conclusion that she wanted to avoid associating with him at all. But then he said that and she didn't think he was half bad.

"You are the strangest person I've ever met." She told him, her face blank.

Tristan gave a small laugh. "Oddly, you aren't the first person who's told me that." He replied.

Gabby laughed, and was about to reply when she saw Troy walking along the sidewalk over Tristan's shoulder. "Oh, there's my boyfriend." She said. "I'd better go." She told Tristan.

"Later…" Tristan leaned back against the wall and let her walk past him.

"Bye." Gabriella said before walking quickly to get to Troy. "Hey." She said happily to him, linking her arm through his.

The two of them turned to walk in the direction Troy had just come from. "Was that Tristan or whatever his name is?" he asked Gabby, looking back briefly.

"Yeah." She answered vaguely.

"I see." Troy sounded more serious.

Gabriella knew exactly what that tone was about. "So, where are we all meeting?" she changed the subject, asking about the plans they had made with their friends for tonight.

"Chad's place." Troy told her, going along with her abrupt change of subject. "You ready to go, or do you need to go home at all?

Gabby smiled up at him. "I'm fine." She told him. She pushed the entire conversation she had just had with Tristan out of her mind. Then suddenly she stopped Troy in the middle of the sidewalk and pulled him in, meeting his lips with hers.

"What was that for?" Troy asked when she pulled away.

Gabriella laughed. "Do I need a good reason to do that?" she asked.

Troy was a little confused at first, since he knew that there was a limit of how intimate she felt comfortable being in public. That is why he had been shocked when she'd kissed him like that in the middle of the busy sidewalk. Maybe there was something going on, but maybe, things were just changing. "Absolutely not." He replied after a moment, giving her a big smile and grabbing her hand.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You guys are so late." Chad told Troy and Gabriella when they walked through the door of the diner later that day.

"We were busy." Gabriella told him while she stepped in.

"Mhm, more like getting busy…" Taylor muttered.

"We were not!" Gabby said in shock, turning red.

"She tells the truth." Troy shrugged, laughing a little at the embarrassed look on her face. He slipped an arm around her waist.

"See, we would believe you." Chad told his friend. "But we saw you pull up about twenty minutes ago, and there is no way that it takes that long to get out of the car." He pointed out.

There was no way either Troy or Gabriella could come up with an excuse for that. It was true. When they had pulled into Chad's driveway, they had gotten distracted and forgotten about their waiting friends, resulting in a make-out session in Troy's car.

"Oh Chad leave them alone." Taylor rolled her eyes at her boyfriend after she had stopped laughing at his comment.

"Leave who alone?" Kelsi asked while she walked in.

"Who is Chad bugging?" Sharpay was right behind her. Jason and Ryan weren't far behind the two of them.

"Great lets just discuss this with everyone." Gabby muttered and glared at Chad.

"It doesn't matter now." Taylor told them quickly, before Chad could open his mouth and embarrass his two friends even more. "Let's go, eat. I'm starving, aren't you guys?" she asked them happily.

"Sure." Kelsi replied. Her and the rest of them who had just come in had suspicious looks on their faces.

The eight of them went outside so that they could walk to their favorite spot. It was nice out so it took them double the time that it usually did to get there because they were all playing around.

"They're lagging again." Jason pointed his thumb over his shoulder, drawing their attention to behind them. For the entire walk, Troy and Gabriella had kept slowing down. Their friends had begun to ignore them when they realized that the two of them were off in their own little world.

"Troy! Gabs!" Chad yelled back to them. "Hurry it up, we want to get there tonight, if that's possible." He informed them.

The two of them gave each other a look before running to catch up with the rest of their friends. "Very funny Chad." Troy told his friend with the roll of his eyes.

Taylor linked her arm with Gabby's "Hey mind if I tear you away? I fell like we haven't seen each other in a long time." She laughed. "Even though we work together everyday."

Gabriella laughed too and let herself be dragged away with Taylor. Kelsi and Sharpay joined the two girls. The four of them walked ahead of the guys, comparing what had been going on that week.

"So Gabby, I couldn't help but notice you and that guy." Taylor brought up after a few minutes of Sharpay gushing about the phone calls and emails she had gotten from Zeke while he was away.

"What guy?" Gabriella asked immediately, no one coming to her mind right away.

"That guy that works at the restaurant." Taylor told her. "Tall, spiky blonde hair, green eyes, pretty much keeps to himself."

"Sounds hot to me." Sharpay giggled.

"Oh, you mean Tristan?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah I guess." Taylor shrugged.

Gabby looked at her. 'What about him?" she asked.

Taylor laughed. "I don't know. Anything interesting about him?" she obviously wanted some details that Gabby wasn't sharing with her.

"Well actually," Gabriella started. "He's a friend of Ben's, which I thought was weird at first, because I thought I would have met him. But apparently he's been away for a while, who knows why." She told them.

"Mysterious." Kelsi commented.

"Yeah I guess." Gabby shrugged. They stopped talking because they got to the diner, and the boys were no longer distracted with the walk.

Gabriella jumped when Troy ran up and attacked her from behind, picking her up and spinning her around, laughing as he did so. "Oh my god, I nearly had a heart attack Troy!" she hit him playfully, and ended up laughing when he gave her a puppy dog face, which she promptly kissed right off. Sharpay let out a disgusted sigh after watching them. "What's wrong Shar?" Gabby asked, wondering what could have made her upset.

"Okay I totally get that you two are amazingly in love, but would you try to be considerate of those who can not act all sickly sweet and cutesy with each other and possibly tone it down a bit?" she asked.

"We're not being like that, are we?" Troy asked, looking to their other friends.

Chad just shook his head. "Do you want me to actually answer that question? Because I thought it was rhetorical." He replied.

Gabby laughed to herself. "Okay Sharpay, sorry." She told her. "We didn't realize." She said.

"You two must be pretty oblivious then." Taylor rolled her eyes, holding open the door for all of them.

None of them said anything to that. They all went into the diner, and took over their usual large booth in the corner by the window. Gabriella became more and more quiet, and her over active mind began to take over again. She hated how it always happened at the worst times. But now, she couldn't help but think. Were she and Troy together to much?

They had spent every night this week together in some way. Everyone knew it, even Tristan who she had only met on Monday. She knew now that their friends definitely noticed it. They were becoming one of those couples, who broke off from everyone else. Gabriella hated couples like that, and she would never want to lose her friends if she started being like that.

Halfway through dinner, Troy realized that Gabriella was being quieter then usual and asked her if she was all right. She nodded and gave him a kiss, smiling from the feeling it gave her. But inside, she knew she had to do something about this problem before it went too far.


	25. Together But Apart At The Same Time

**Chapter 25: Together But Apart at the Same Time**

"So, What's up with you tonight?" Troy asked after a long while of them both silently walking. They were in Chad's backyard, getting some 'air'. So far nothing much had really happened. Gabriella had been lost in thought since dinner.

"Nothing." Gabby shook her head, watching her feet hit the grass in front of her. "I'm just thinking." She told him. Leaning into him while they walked.

"Why does that scare me?" Troy looked down at her.

"Me thinking scares you?" Gabriella smiled up at him. "Why would that scare you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," he said. He was silent for a moment. "Seriously, you've been quiet all night, is something wrong?" he sounded concerned.

"I don't know…" she sighed, wanting to tell him what was on her mind. She wasn't sure how he would react.

"What is it?" Troy asked. He rubbed her arm comfortingly with the hand that was around her.

Gabriella bit her lip nervously. "Troy, do you think that…we spend too much time together? She asked, finally getting it out.

"Too much time together?" Troy repeated. "I don't think so." He replied. "Why would you say that?"

Gabby sighed, hating how perfectly comfortable and happy he sounded. "I don't know," she said. "Don't you just think that maybe we're starting to become one of those couples who only hang out with each other and end up losing all of their friends, because they all get sick of how annoying and cute they are?" she said quickly, realizing what she was saying, and how bad things really were.

"Whoa, why are you freaking out about this?" Troy stopped and looked at her carefully.

"I don't know!" she said quickly. She stopped and took a deep breath. "I just really don't want to end up like that." She said much more calmly.

"Well neither to I." Troy told her. He was suddenly freaked out too.

"Okay what do we do?" she asked him desperately.

"Um, I don't know." Troy replied. "How about we just calm down first okay?" he put his hands on her shoulders. "It's going to be okay." He told her with a smile.

"No it's not." Gabby shook her head wildly. "Everyone knows it Troy! Even I do, though I wish I could just ignore it." She sighed.

"Why is this such a big deal?" he asked her gently, noticing that she was calming down a bit.

Gabby shrugged. "I don't know." she shook her head to herself. "I just don't want everyone to think that…." She trailed off. "I don't even know." she was confused.

"Gabby what's really going on here?" Troy looked at her. "You've never cared what anyone thought before. Not in all of the time that I've known you." He told her. "Why now?"

Gabriella grabbed both of his hands and held them down at their waists. "Look I know that you don't think I mean this, but I do." She told him seriously. "I've seen it before with my sister. Her and guy number whatever are always happy and apparently in love, but then they get sick of each other." She shook her head again. "I just don't want that to happen."

"Well I really don't think that we are like your sister and '_guy number whatever'_. At all." Troy told her.

"Okay, that was an exaggeration." Gabriella sighed. "But that doesn't mean it can't happen." She added.

"Alright… I don't know who put these thoughts into your head and freaked you out…." He said. "But what is it that you want to do about this?"

Gabriella couldn't help but give a small smile at how trusting he was of her. "This is going to sound weird, but I think maybe, we should try to spend some time apart." She told him, still holding both of his hands. "You know, being together but apart at the same time?" she added.

"Are you serious?" Troy asked, openly shocked.

"Troy, we spend every single night together, don't you think we can cut that down…just a little?" Gabby asked.

"I guess…" Troy was finding this kind of hard to get his head around.

Gabriella lifted one of her hands to his cheek and smiled. "Just so you know, this is in no way me breaking up with you in any way at all." She moved in close and gave him a soft kiss. "I love you." She told him.

Troy shook his head. "Why do I have the feeling that this isn't going to last long?" he joked.

"Are you suggesting that I can't stay away from you?" Gabby laughed.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe." He told her. "But maybe I don't think I can stay away form you." He pulled her in all the way, by the waist.

Gabriella pushed away. "Well that's too bad, because as of now…we are taking some space." She said with a smirk.

"Whatever you say." Troy shrugged, smirking back.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

On Monday, Chad, Troy and Jason sat together at one end off the staff table. Every kid enrolled in basketball camp was currently eating lunch. This was the only time of the day when they three guys could hang out.

"So Chad, tonight we're still on right?" Jason asked his friend before biting into his sandwich.

"Yeah man." Chad nodded happily.

"What's going on? Troy asked. "And why am I not invited?" he added. He got a strange look from both of his friends. "What?" he asked carefully.

"Sorry…" Chad let out a laugh. "We didn't really think to bother asking you to tell you the truth." He sipped his iced tea. "You're always with Gabriella."

"Yeah." Jason agreed. "Don't even bother to argue that.

Troy couldn't help but laugh at them. "Not tonight." He told them.

"What?" Chad and Jason both said at the same time.

"Tonight." Troy repeated himself. "I'm not hanging out with Gabby."

"But why not?" Chad asked quickly. "Did you guys break up?" he seemed panicked.

"No." Troy answered quickly. "Not at all. We're just taking a little space from each other." He shrugged.

"Why?" Jason asked for both himself and Chad, who had a confused look on his face.

"Gabby is scared that we're going to get sick of each other, resulting in us hating each other and breaking up." Troy informed them.

"And you agree with that?" Chad asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know." Troy really wasn't sure about any of this. He shrugged. "I don't think it's going to last very long anyways…"

"Because you can't stay away from each other?" Chad asked jokingly, causing Jason to burst into laughter.

"Yeah." Troy nodded.

"Well what if she's just trying to push you away or something?" Jason asked.

"What do you mean?" Troy was confused.

Jason shrugged. "I don't know, you're just very trusting of her, that's all." He said.

"What reason do I have to not trust her?" he asked both of them.

"Gabriella is a beautiful girl Troy, she's bound to get…distracted. If you know what I mean." Chad informed him. "Just don't give her too much space okay?"

The two of them had gotten Troy not so happy about what was going on right now. What if Gabriella really was pushing him away? What if he was letting her, and she ended up going off with some other guy. The whole thing sounded nothing like her at all, but for some reason it made Troy nervous. Until he thought about how she had specifically told him that she was not breaking up with him. She loved him.

"Yeah I know." Troy nodded to his friend.

"Good." Jason said happily. "So if you're really cool with that, then tonight we're devoting ourselves to doing everything without the girls." He started.

"Every time we try to have a guys night, we somehow end up bumping into them, or one of them getting bored and dragging all of them over." Chad went on. "But tonight that is not going to happen." He said proudly.

"Sounds good." Troy smiled. He could use a night with the guys

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So Gabs, how's the whole space thing going?" Taylor asked the next day while they rolled cutlery and shined glasses, getting ready for the afternoon.

"Well it only started last night, so I'm not really sure." Gabriella smiled.

"Hm…" Taylor was thoughtful. "I don't think this whole thing is going to last long at all." She shook her head to herself.

"That is exactly what Troy said." Gabby pointed her glass at her best friend. "Why do you both have such little faith in this one tiny thing?" she asked.

"Because Gabby, the fact is that you and Troy simply can't stay away from each other." Taylor informed her. "Even when you hated him after Chad and my plan to split you up. You guys weren't speaking for what, two days tops?" she laughed lightly as she finished.

"Maybe," Gabriella nodded along with that. It was perfectly true. "But we weren't really trying those other times. So I think we can do it." She smiled.

"Alright, whatever you say." Taylor shrugged.

Tristan came over before Gabby could say more. "Want to load me up, I'm setting tables." He told them, waiting for one of them to hand him some cutlery.

"Um, we're not really finished, but that's what we have done." Taylor pointed to the bin off to one side of Gabriella, filled with the cutlery they had already put into the white linen napkins.

"Perfect." Tristan smiled. "Maybe you guys should stop talking and you'll get things done a whole lot faster." He added before waltzing over to the bin. Taylor glared after him and Gabriella couldn't help but wince. Taylor and Tristan hadn't exactly hit it off so far. Taylor didn't like the strange sense of humor he had, the one that Gabby was still trying to get used to.

"Here I'll help you." Gabriella told him, knowing that she and Taylor had already rolled more than enough sets of cutlery for the tables. Now they all had to be set and that would get done a whole lot faster if she helped Tristan. She could feel Taylor roll her eyes at that. Taylor didn't understand how Gabby could stand being around Tristan.

"I don't think I really need much help." He told her.

Gabriella raised her eyebrows. "Well that depends on how long you want to be setting the tables." She replied.

"Okay, if you insist." Tristan said oddly, picking up some cutlery and walking off.

Gabby watched him leave before grabbing a bunch of the rolls herself. She went to the opposite side of the restaurant, moving towards the middle. Tristan was doing the same thing. They both ended up at a large table in the middle, sharing the job of placing the cutlery, glasses and plates.

"Okay what is with you today?" Tristan asked after a while.

"What are you talking about?" Gabriella looked at him challengingly.

He gave her a weird look. "I feel like you're following me."

"That's only because you keep running away." Gabby replied smoothly, crossing her arms in the process.

"Let me rephrase my question then." Tristan shot back just as smoothly. "What do you want?" he asked. "I know there's something.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile at that. She knew she was annoying him and she was sort of having fun doing it. "Are you still wanting to hear my side of 'the story'?" she asked, looking at him for a reply.

Tristan simply shrugged. "Sure." He said easily. "Though I'm pretty sure that it's never going to happen since after work you're either going to meet your boyfriend or he'll come here to meet you." He added.

Gabby shook her head. She knew he'd say something like that. "Not tonight." She told him, going back to placing plates on the table.

"Why not?" Tristan asked. He was completely interested in what she had just said.

Gabriella gave him a look as if to mind his own business. "I'm giving you what you wanted." She told him. "So take it or leave it." She added.

"Well then I guess I can't refuse can I?" Tristan said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't advise it." Gabriella replied.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm starving." Chad groaned that afternoon.

"I'm tired." Jason added.

"Let's go then." Troy laughed at them both. Neither of them argued with him. The three of them got into their separate cars since that was the way they had come that morning. Chad's house wasn't far. Soon they were in the cool air-conditioned house, lounging on the couches in the living room.

"Hello boys." Chad's mom smiled at the three of them when she walked through the living room. "You're looking bored."

"Not bored, relaxed." Chad corrected his mother.

"Oh, I see." She raised her eyebrows and shook her head lightly. "No girls tonight?" she asked. She had gotten used to seeing the whole group of them around here.

"Nope." Chad told her. "We're having a girl free night. Taylor and Sharpay are shopping or something, who knows. Kelsi has apparently locked herself into her room until she finishes the first act of her play, and Troy and Gabriella are giving each other some space." He explained.

"Alright." His mother nodded calmly, not asking him to explain any of that further. "Well your father and I are having guests for dinner, so if you wouldn't mind moving your girl free selves down to the basement…" she laughed lightly at her comment before heading towards the doorway.

"Sure mom." Chad called to her as she left. "So what do you guys want to do?" he asked his friends when she was fully gone. Both of them looked thoughtful.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So Gabs, Sharpay and I are going shopping, want to come along. I mean since you don't have anything planned tonight?" Taylor asked her just as they finished their shifts at the restaurant that day. They were both in the back, getting rid of the restaurant shirts for the day.

"Actually, I do have plans now." Gabriella told her.

"I knew the whole space thing wouldn't last long." Taylor rolled her eyes, smiling at how right she was.

Gabby shook her head. "No, not with Troy." She told her best friend.

Taylor looked shocked. "Well who with then?" she wasn't sure who else Gabby would be hanging out with.

"Um…" Gabriella started. The door opened and Tristan came in, causing her to immediately stop. Taylor noticed this right away.

"Are you good to go?" he asked, turning his eyes to Gabriella.

"Uh…yeah." Gabby picked up her purse. "Just give me a minute." She told him.

"Sure." Tristan shrugged. "I'll be out front." He went back out the door he had come from.

Taylor immediately turned to Gabby, who was apparently avoiding looking at her friend, knowing exactly what reaction she would have. "Tristan?" she asked to make sure. "Gabby you're hanging out with Tristan?" she asked, a bit of disgust in her voice.

"Not exactly…" Gabriella attempted to explain herself. All she got was a look from Taylor. "Look, apparently he's a good friend of Ben's and he's been away for a while." She shrugged. "He just wants to know what's been going on while he was gone." She told Taylor.

"So why doesn't he ask Ben then if they're such good friends?" Taylor asked with her arms crossed.

"I think he already did…I don't know." Gabby shrugged again. "Okay, can you please stop looking at me like that?" she said.

"Fine." Taylor stopped. "Can I just remind you though, that you have a boyfriend?" she added.

"Yes, I know that okay?" Gabby was getting frustrated with her. "This is nowhere near being a date, at all." She assured her friend. "I don't even like Tristan." She finished.

"Okay, just stick to that then." Taylor decided to drop it. "But if you finish your little story time early, call me okay? We haven't hung out in a while." She smiled at Gabby.

"Definitely." Gabby smiled back at her friend. "I'll see you later okay." She gave her a hug.

"Bye." Taylor watched her go, wondering what trouble this was going to cause.

Gabriella went out the same doors that Tristan had gone through. She didn't see him anywhere in the restaurant so she figured he was outside. The heat and sun hit her as soon as she went outside. "Hey." She greeted him when she saw him leaning against the wall. "Ready." She said.

"Where do you want to go?" Tristan asked her, squinting slightly from the sun.

"I don't know." Gabby replied. "Somewhere outside, I feel like some fresh air." She told him.

"I think I know a good place then." Tristan said with a smile.

The two of them went to Gabriella's car. She wasn't sure where he wanted to go, so she let him give her directions. She followed them carefully, and ended up in the parking lot of a large park. There was a playground off to one side, with a bunch of kids playing on it. Gabriella could see pathways, where people were jogging and walking dogs.

"How have I never seen this?" she asked while she got out.

Tristan shrugged. "I don't know. Look good to you?" he asked her. "I was thinking we could just go sit on a bench somewhere."

"Sounds good to me." She replied. The two of them set off on one of the pathways. Gabby could feel the sun on her back and the fresh air making its way into her lungs. It was a perfect afternoon. Not far down the path they found a nice place to sit. The bench was partially shady.

"So…" Tristan began. He looked over at her.

"Oh right, my story." Gabriella nodded. "Well, what do you want to know?" she asked him.

"I don't know." Tristan shrugged. "Tell me what happened with Ben and Troy." He said, waiting for her to start.

Gabriella looked at him before she started. This wasn't the same Tristan she saw at work every day. Normally, she could only tolerate him for a small amount of time. He was hard to talk to, with his odd jokes and comments that tended to partially offend her. But right now he was calm, quiet and ready to listen. Apparently she was seeing his soft side. It caused her to tell him everything that happened from the time she had met Ben, up until she had finally chosen Troy. He didn't say a word the whole time, but listened carefully while she talked.

Gabriella sighed when she was done. "Not exactly the greatest memories." She said to finish.

"Yeah I guess." Tristan spoke his first words in a while. "Well you guys definitely aren't exaggerating when you say that it's a long story." He tried cheering her up a bit.

Gabriella smiled. "I was expecting you to ask why I did what I did." She said, wondering why he wasn't.

"I guess I'm still trying to figure some things out." He confessed, giving a shrug. He saw her lean back against the seat of the bench, staring ahead. "Thanks for telling me." He told her after a moment.

"No problem." Gabriella told him. She found herself wondering what had made her tell someone that she barely knew, one of the things she had decided to never talk about.

Tristan seemed to sense her sudden discomfort. "Look, I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now." he told her. "But I'm supposed to be meeting Ben for coffee." He went on. "Feel like tagging along?" he asked.

Gabby's mind briefly flicked back to the warning Taylor had given her before she had left the restaurant with him. She knew Troy probably wouldn't like this. But then she realized how a while ago, she had decided that she wasn't to stay friends with Ben. So far, she hadn't seen much of him. "Sure." She decided there was nothing wrong with this.

"Alright." Tristan got up from the bench. "Let's go then."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"This might sound pathetic, but I don't know how much longer I can stay awake." Chad yawned. He leaned his head against the back of the couch.

"Yeah, I'm feeling the exhaustion too." Troy said tiredly.

"Come on guys, the night is young." Jason said, immediately laughing at himself. "Let's go get some fresh air or coffee or something." He suggested.

"Coffee sounds perfect." Troy spoke up immediately.

"I agree." Chad yawned again. "Let's get going."

The three of them dragged themselves upstairs and out the front door. Chad called to his parents, telling them the three of them would be out for a bit. The older couple barely noticed, since they were busy entertaining their guests. They walked happily to the coffee shop, feeling more awake just by getting out of Chad's basement. They had been staring at videogames and movies for hours.

"So Troy, you still good with the whole space thing?" Chad asked as they walked through the doors of the coffee shop.

"Sure. It's not too bad." Troy shrugged, still smiling.

"That's good." Chad was happy that Troy was okay with everything. It was so much easier this way.

Jason, who was walking ahead of them, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "Uh, Troy…" he started, looking back at his friend.

"What?" Troy asked quickly, seeing the look on Jason's face.

"I have a feeling you suddenly aren't going to like this space thing anymore." Jason told him, shaking his head slightly.

"Why not?" Troy was more confused now then ever.

Jason didn't say a word, he just pointed to the other side of the room, where, at one of the tables sat Ben, Tristan and Gabriella. The smile vanished off of Troy's face in an instant.

Yeah, any shred of liking toward Gabby's whole space idea was _completely_ gone now.


	26. You Got Me All Wrong

**Chapter 26: You Got Me All Wrong**

So far, for Gabriella, things were going great. She was glad she had gone with Tristan to get some coffee with Ben. During the while that the three of them had been sitting around the table, she had slowly started to have a better and better time.

At first, she hadn't felt so comfortable. The truth was, no matter how much she wanted it to happen, her and Ben being friends, comfortably, was taking longer then expected. She still felt like a terrible person every time she saw him. Every time they saw each other he had to assure her that he was in fact doing okay and that he didn't hate her guts.

Along with that, Gabriella was still working on warming up to Tristan. At the park he'd been so momentarily sweet and nice. As soon as they had gotten in the car he had turned back into his usual self, sarcastic, joking and annoying.

But to Gabby's surprise, after a few minutes of awkward conversation, things had gotten a lot better. The two guys had started telling her stories about when they were younger. Some of the things Ben had done over the years had surprised her. She had always seen him as a sweet, polite, mature guy. Apparently everyone had a wild side.

"I'm going to get some more coffee. Do you guys want anything?" Gabriella asked when she noticed her cup was empty.

"I'm fine." Ben replied. Tristan nodded in agreement. His mouth was too full of muffin to reply in words.

"Okay." Gabby laughed at him. "I'll be back." She got up, feeling slightly relieved to get away from both of them for a moment. Between the two of them, she was constantly occupied. With Tristan, it was matching his witty comments. With Ben it was making sure to keep her cool and remain the smart girl that she always was. It was hard to balance both.

When Gabriella looked up to watch where she was going. She immediately spotted the big head of curly hair that belonged to Chad. She wasn't sure why she was surprised to see him there. It wasn't something that was completely unlikely to happen.

But then again, maybe it was the fact that Chad seemed to be extremely preoccupied talking to a not so happy looking Troy.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Before Troy had even had time to react to what he saw, Chad had grabbed him and stared at him seriously. At first he had wondered why, but then Chad started to speak.

"Okay look, obviously you aren't very happy about this." Chad told him quickly. "But before you do anything, just think about it. Please." He seemed to be pleading. "Just don't jump to any conclusions okay?"

"Chad, there is obviously something going on." Troy told him, glancing over at the table again.

"I realize that." Chad sighed at his friend's stubbornness. "But can you just avoid some big confrontation here please? Talk about it later maybe." He suggested. "You know that will make this ten times less worse."

"Fine." Troy moved, freeing himself from Chad's grip. "You know, you were right though. Maybe I shouldn't have trusted her so much." He said, clearly angry.

Chad knew that in some way or another, this was not going to end well. Troy was fired up, Gabriella was not going to be expecting to see him. Chad looked nervously to Jason, who shared the same expression that he did.

When Troy turned to walk away from the doorway, he caught eyes with Gabriella, who had just gotten up from her table. She seemed to take him in, before walking over, looking unsure. He knew that she probably looked like that because of the look on his face.

On her way over Gabriella wasn't sure what was going to happen. Part of her was excited to see Troy. While she knew that the whole space thing was her idea, she also hated it. She had never realized that, no matter how pointless some of the time they spent together seemed, it had become so important to her. She had the urge to go and kiss him right there in the middle of the coffee shop. But the other part of her saw the way he was looking at her. She knew he wasn't exactly happy to see her.

"Hi." She stopped in front of him, waiting nervously for him to say anything at all.

"Hey. Troy replied after a moment. He had come so close to asking her what was going on, but had decided to take Chad's advice and save it for later.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." She said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I kind of thought you'd be with Taylor or Sharpay or something." He told her, glancing over her shoulder at the two guys sitting at the table.

"Yeah…" she wasn't sure what to say to that. "Why don't you guys come over and sit with us?" she asked, regretting her words almost instantly. Bringing Troy over there when he very clearly wasn't happy was not a good idea.

Troy thought of refusing for a moment, and telling her that the three of them had simply wanted to get some coffee to go so that they could get back to Chad's. But then he saw that Tristan had noticed the little gathering by the door. He immediately decided to not leave.

"Well actually…" He began, before Chad stepped forward from where he had been standing behind Troy.

"We'd love to, but we sort of promised ourselves we'd have nothing to do with you girls tonight." Chad told her.

"Yeah, Chad even hung up on Taylor already." Jason added.

Chad nodded along with him. "Plus my parents don't really know were gone, so we'd better get back before they freak out.

"Okay." Gabriella was a little surprised at their sudden attack. She noticed that both Jason and Chad looked relieved when she didn't put up any sort of argument. "Well I guess I'll just see you later then.

"Yeah." Troy was even angrier now. He'd had a plan, but Chad and Jason had just ruined it. But maybe they were right. Maybe it was better to just wait.

Before Gabby could say anything else the three of them were turning away. She watched her boyfriend walk out of the coffee shop and felt dread shot into her stomach. He hadn't kissed, hugged or even smiled at her. She knew that something was wrong, and that things definitely weren't going well.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The entire rest of the time that Gabriella spent in the coffee shop with Ben and Tristan, she wasn't even fully there. She was too busy lost in thought about what had happened earlier. Troy was mad, but she wasn't even sure why.

She knew that Ben and Tristan could tell something was up. They didn't ask her about it though. If they had she wouldn't have even known what to tell them. Finally she decided to just leave and try to find Troy. This was bugging her too much to just let it go.

She went quickly out to her car before realizing that she had no plan. She didn't feel like just knocking on Chad's door and asking for Troy. She wasn't even sure if he would still be there. So instead, she pulled out her phone and called first his cell phone, and then his house. There was no reply both times.

"Great…." She muttered to herself, putting her phone on the seat beside her and pulling her car out of the parking space so that she could head to Chad's. She got there quickly and went up the front steps, ringing the doorbell and waiting patiently. Lucky for her, Chad was the one to answer. He looked surprised to see her there.

"Hey Chad, is Troy here?" she asked her friend. "No one is picking up at his house and he's not answering his cell phone." She told him.

Chad shrugged. "Sorry Gabby, he went home a while ago."

"Great." Gabriella sighed. "Well if you talk to him or see him could you please tell him that he cant ignore me forever, and I really need to talk to him?" she asked tiredly.

"Sure." Chad replied, feeling slightly guilty for all of this.

"Thanks Chad." She turned away, pulling her car keys out of her purse.

"Wait, Gabriella." Chad stopped her. She turned around and looked at him questioningly. "What exactly is going on?"

"I have no idea." Gabriella shrugged sadly. "All I know is that Troy is obviously mad at me." She told him. "And I'm pretty sure it has something to do with who I was at the coffee shop with."

Chad couldn't help himself. He felt so guilty that Gabriella was confused and Troy was angry. "This is partially my fault." He told her.

"What?" Gabriella hadn't expected that.

"When Troy told Jason and I about the whole space thing, we might have sort of put some ideas into his head about what it could really mean." He told her carefully.

Gabby had a sinking feeling. "What kind of ideas?" she asked, not entirely sure if she even wanted to know or not.

"That you might be trying to push him away." Chad told her, watching the look on her face change immediately. "And that you might get distracted by other guys."

She sighed in frustration. "Why would you put ideas like that into his head? She asked angrily.

"I'm sorry it just happened!" Chad told her in defense.

Gabriella calmed herself. "I know." she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just…you know Troy." She sighed again.

"Yeah." Chad nodded.

"Alright well I'd better go if I want to fix this." Gabriella told him. "Thanks Chad."

"No problem." Chad told her. "Good luck Gabs." He told her while she walked to her car. When she was gone he closed the door and stayed frozen there for a moment. Then he went and picked up his phone. He was going to help out if he could. He dialed and Troy's number waited for a moment.

"Hey Chad." He heard after a few rings. Troy obviously recognized his number.

"Where are you man?" Chad asked quickly. He knew that Gabby was most likely on her way to Troy's as they spoke.

"At home, why?" Troy sounded a little weird.

Chad quickly thanked god that he was at home. "Okay listen, in a few minutes Gabriella is going to be knocking on your door and I need you to just talk to her okay?" Chad told him.

"What? Chad!" Troy was getting ready to argue his friend on this.

"Please Troy, this is pretty much Jason and my fault. So just talk to her okay?" Chad begged.

"I don't…" Troy started. Chad heard the distinct sound of a doorbell in the background. "Oh fine. I have to go." He told him.

"Bye." Chad said before hanging up. He slipped his phone into his pocket and collapsed on the couch. He heard laughter from the living room and knew it must be coming from his parent's and their diner guests. He could only hope that Gabriella and Troy could take it from here.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

This was one of the few times that Gabriella had ever stood in front of Troy and had not known what to say. They had never had a problem trying to figure out what to say. Now that there was something to talk about, they didn't seem to be able to find any words.

"Okay, Troy…." She finally began after a long silence. They had made it up to his room to talk and all progress had stopped there. "I talked to Chad, he told me why you're not happy." She told him.

"Yeah, he called." Troy nodded. "He told me that somehow this was him and Jason's fault." He told her, feeling a bit confused about that.

"Yeah, I think they put some untrue ideas into your head." She sighed. "So I just want to set things straight and tell you that when I suggested we should have some space, I didn't do it because I wanted to push you away."

"I know…" Troy told her.

She tried to catch his eyes but couldn't. "That's not all, it?" she asked. He looked at her but stayed silent. "Troy, please don't tell me that you're mad because of who I was hanging out with." She said in disbelief. "Because I think I've made it clear that I'm only with you."

Troy shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I can't really say that I like you hanging out with them, especially Tristan." He told her, his eyes burning into hers. "Not without lying, anyways." He added.

Gabriella sighed. "Okay, I understand that." She nodded. "And I know I can't stop you from feeling that way." She took a deep breath. "But I don't understand why you seem to not be trusting me?" she told him. "Have I ever done anything that made me lose your trust?" she asked, waiting for a reply.

"No." he said after a while, taking a deep sigh. "You haven't…"

Now she was upset. Why was he doing this? It wasn't fair. "Then I don't know what I'm doing here." She said quietly, before turning quickly and heading for the door, determined to get away.

Those words seemed to affect Troy a lot. He had been serious and cold with her. He had wanted to make her realize that it wasn't okay to confuse him like that. But she hadn't fought like he thought she would. She had given up, and was walking away most likely re-thinking a few things, mostly to do with the two of them.

Scared of what this might turned into, Troy quickly got up and went after her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her all the way back around and right into him, meeting her lips with his instantly.

Gabby was completely shocked at first. Mostly by how…fierce Troy had just been. One moment she was walking out of his room with all of the determination she had, and the next, she was being pulled strongly right into his chest. She was also shocked because she hadn't expected it. At first she stood there stiffly, before beginning to lose herself in his kiss.

The two of them started getting carried away. They had barely seen each other for the past few days. It was beginning to wear down on them both. Troy backed her up fully against the closed door of his room. She wouldn't have been able to get away, even if she wanted it.

When they pulled apart for a moment, Gabriella lifted her hand to her lips. "Okay, you know what….I give up." She told him after a moment, breathing heavily. "Space was a stupid idea, I'm sorry."

Troy kissed her again before pulling back and smiling. "I knew it wouldn't last long." He gave a small laugh.


	27. Mr Montez

**Chapter 27: Mr. Montez**

Later that week, Sharpay flung open the door of her and Ryan's house. "Come on you're late!" she didn't even bother to greet her friend nicely.

"Sorry." Gabby said apologetically. "My mom and sister were going at it again, I swear, sometimes I think that I'm the only…"

"Sounds lovely Gabs, but you're wasting time!" Sharpay interrupted her while they went up the huge staircase. Gabriella practically had to jog to keep up with her.

Gabby rolled her eyes. "Fine…" she sighed. "It's nice to no that nobody cares." She followed Sharpay into her room. Troy immediately came over to see her.

"What's this I hear that no one cares about?" he asked, having overheard her when she came in.

"The reason I was late." She told him, smiling. "A bickering mother and sister."

Troy gave a small laugh. "Aw, well I care." He told her, pulling her into him

"Hey Gabriella!" they both suddenly heard, before anything more could happen. Gabby looked to the other side of the room, where on the screen of the computer she could clearly see the face of her friend Zeke Baylor.

"Oh my goodness, Zeke!" Gabby said happily, tearing herself out of Troy's arms and running over to the desk, where the rest of her friends were gathered. "How are you?" she asked.

"I'm great." Zeke was all smiles. "Right now we're in Greece. It's beautiful here." He told her.

"That's amazing." Gabby replied. Of course, being Gabriella Montez, she was genuinely happy for her friend. Zeke was having a great adventure. "I can't wait to hear all about it."

"Yeah neither can I!" Kelsi piped in. "Or any of us for that matter." She added with a laugh.

"Well I can't wait either." Zeke laughed along with her. "It seems like everything is going by so fast." He told them. He looked behind himself for a moment and they all heard what he did.

"Hey Zeke, it's time to go man!" some guy yelled from somewhere around Zeke.

"Alright!" Zeke replied. He turned back to his friends. "That's Scott, he's been my roommate for the past little while. He's a good guy." He informed them, taking away their confusion.

"You have to go?" Sharpay said sadly. "So soon?"

"Yeah." Zeke sighed. "We're going out tonight. Should be fun. Sorry I have to cut this short." He apologized.

"No problem man, keep having an awesome time." Chad replied for them all.

"Will do." Zeke assured them. "Bye guys!"

"Bye!" All eight of them said. They watched Zeke quickly wave before he disappeared off the screen. Sharpay sighed sadly.

"So what now?" Ryan asked, breaking the silence that had quickly formed between the entire group of them.

"Let's just hang out." Jason suggested. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted."

None of them disagreed with that. So they all went down to the living room and lounged on the couches. Sharpay got a bunch of food, and they hung out like they hadn't in a long time.

"Hey you know what?" Chad said to Taylor a little later.

"What? She asked her boyfriend curiously.

"Ever since summer started we haven't really been on an official date." He informed her.

Taylor thought about it for a moment. "You're right. That's not weird is it?"

"I don't know." Chad shrugged.

"Come to think of it, neither have we." Troy thought aloud, looking at Gabriella who was sitting beside him.

"Hey how about the four of us go out on Saturday night?" Taylor suggested. "Like a double date."

"Oh! That sounds like fun." Gabby said excitedly. "What do you think Troy?" she wanted to clear it with her boyfriend first.

He smiled. "Whatever you want." He told her.

"Good, it's all set then." Taylor was content.

"Aw that's cute." Sharpay chimed in. "When Zeke gets back we should do a triple." She giggled.

Gabriella's phone suddenly started to ring, interrupting the conversation. She pulled it out, checking the screen before answering it. Her face immediately changed to something between shock and happiness. "I have to take this." She told the group apologetically, walking quickly out of the room to take the call. "Hey dad!" She answered happily when she was out of their earshot.

"Hey there princess." Her father's booming voice came through the speaker and right into her ear. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Gabby replied. "How about you? What is this surprise call about?" she asked, growing suspicious.

"Well, I thought since you're always begging me to come home, that you should be the first one to know." he informed her. "I'm coming home this weekend."

"Seriously?" Gabby asked in shock.

She heard her dad laugh. "You better believe it. I'll be home Friday afternoon."

"Well I'm sure Mr. McKessie will let me take the afternoon off." She told him, a huge smile on her face.

"He'd better." Gabby's dad replied. "I want to spend every minute I possibly can with my little girl."

"I'm so excited!" Gabriella told him, her smile not fading at all.

"Me too sweetie." he told her. Gabriella heard another voice talking to him through the speaker. "I'm sorry Gabby, but I have to go and get ready for a meeting." He told her quickly.

"Alright." Gabriella said a little sadly. She never got to talk to her dad for long when he called. He was so busy. "I'll see you on Friday." She told him.

"I can't wait to hear about everything you've been up to." He said. "Bye princess."

"Bye." She kept the phone up to her ear until she heard him hang up. Then she put her phone back into her pocket and went back into the living room, taking her spot on the couch next to Troy again. "Sorry, what did I miss?"

"Nothing really, we were just figuring out details for our double date." Taylor told her with a little laugh. No one asked who had called or why she had been so desperate to take the call.

"Oh." She suddenly turned serious. "Actually, I don't think Saturday is going to work after all." She bit her lip. "Or anytime this weekend for that matter."

"Why not?" Troy asked, wondering what she could possibly be doing.

"Um actually…" she started. "My dad is coming home this weekend so…"

"Your dad." Troy said. He knew her dad wasn't home much, and it meant that since he was coming home, she would definitely want to spend time with him. Mr. Montez had a job which demanded that he did a lot of traveling. He was hardly ever home, and while someone would think that this would split up a marriage, Lisa Montez stayed a devoted wife. When he was home, it was a big deal. "Don't worry about it, we can do it some other time."

"Yeah, spend time with your dad." Taylor told her. "We can do it another weekend.

"Great." Gabby smiled, still feeling slightly bad that she had completely destroyed their plans for that weekend. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel excited. Her dad hadn't been home in a long time. She was looking forward to seeing him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later when Gabriella got home, her mom came and hugged her. "Aren't you excited Gabby?" she asked excitedly. "Your father is coming home!"

Gabriella laughed. Her mom always got this way when her dad decided to come home. "Yes mom, of course I'm excited."

"Good." Mrs. Montez kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Well make sure you're home on Friday then!" she told her.

"Already did." Gabby told her.

"Very good!" her mom smiled, before leaving for the kitchen. Gabriella was alone for only a moment before Jaz came padding over to her sister.

"She always gets like this doesn't she." Jaz laughed a little.

Gabby shrugged. "She's excited!" she told her sister. "Imagine if your husband was gone all the time and only came home every once and a while." She sighed. "I don't know how mom does it." She shook her head.

"Hm…yeah that would suck." Jaz agreed. "Mom must really love him."

"Yeah…" Gabby found it a little weird that they were talking about their parents like this.

"So speaking of being in love…" Jaz suddenly smirked. "Is dad going to be meeting a certain someone this weekend?"

Gabriella was caught off guard. "You mean Troy?" she asked.

Jaz shrugged. "Unless there's someone else that you're madly in love with." She laughed lightly.

Gabby thought about this for a moment. Her dad meeting Troy hadn't really occurred to her in all of her excitement. "I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it." She told her sister. "What do you think?"

"Well…" Jaz leaned on the arm of the couch. "I don't know. If you think it's time then…yeah you should." She shrugged.

"Hm…." Gabby bit her lip. "I guess…"

"Don't stress out, I was just wondering." Jaz told her little sister. "But if I were you, I would go for it." She shrugged.

"Yeah, easy for you to say." Gabby rolled her eyes.

She was going to have to think about this, and quick. Friday was quickly coming and her dad would soon be here. Knowing his visits, he'd be gone just as soon as he came. So did she want Troy to meet her dad? This was one of the few times that Gabriella wished she was her older sister. She knew that Jaz, being the bold, fearless girl that she was, would make a decision in an instant. But what would Gabby do?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy was exhausted. The kids at the camp were constantly at it. They had so much energy and believe it or not, the counselors all found it hard to keep up. But it was all worth it.

That night he was lying on his bed, and was practically falling asleep when his cell phone rang loudly on his bedside table. Troy was shocked at first, but when he saw the time on the clock, he realized it was still pretty early.

"Hello?" he answered his phone tiredly.

"You sound tired." He heard a giggle from the line. It unmistakably belonged to Gabriella.

"That would be because I was falling asleep." Troy told her, sitting up against the headboard of his bed.

"Aw, still feeling tired?" Gabby asked him.

"Yeah…" he told her. "So what's up?"

He heard her take a deep breath. "Well, there's something I have to ask you actually." She told him, suddenly sounding slightly nervous.

"Okay…" Troy was curious. "What is it?" he asked.

"Alright well…you know how my dad is coming home this weekend?" she began, still sounding nervous. "Well…" she was trying to find the right words.

"What is it Gabby?" Troy asked, wondering what was making her act so strange.

Troy heard her take a deep breath. "I want him to meet the guy who seems to have stolen his little girl's heart." She told him, sounding serious.

Troy smiled, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "You want me to meet your dad?" he asked, making sure.

"Yeah." She replied after a moment. "So… what do you think?" she asked.

Troy thought about it for a moment. He figured this must be big if she sounded so nervous. "I'll be there whenever you want me to be." He finally replied quietly.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Really." Troy repeated.

He heard her sigh in relief. "This means a lot to me Troy." She told him. It brought another smile to his face. He loved it when he did exactly the right thing. So even though he wasn't entirely sure about this, he knew that anything to make Gabby happy was worth it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

On Thursday night, Troy was home alone relaxing when he heard a loud knocking on the front door. Whoever it was that was there obviously really wanted someone to answer. They didn't stop. Troy practically ran to the door and swung it open.

"Gabby?" he was surprised to see her at his door. She hadn't called or anything to tell him that she was coming over.

"Hi." She said, lowering the hand that she still had raised from knocking on the door. She shook it out a little at her side. "Can I come in?" she asked, staying completely serious.

"Okay…" he stepped quickly out of her way before she could run straight into him. "Um, Gabby is everything alright, you seem a little…."

"Freaked out? She turned and looked at him, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Yeah, that's because I am." She informed him.

"Why?" Troy was almost afraid to ask.

"Why?" she repeated. "Okay um…tomorrow my dad is coming home, and the day after that, you're meeting him." She told him. "So I had to come over because I completely overlooked how…unprepared you are." she added.

"Unprepared?" Troy was a little unsure.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'm not saying you're not amazing or anything…it's just…." She was pacing the hall in front of him. "My dad is…"

Troy was beginning to get a little sick from watching her move all over the place so he grabbed her by the arms and looked at her. "Gabby, calm down." He told her seriously. "What is really going on here?" he asked.

It took a little while for Gabriella to calm down and compose her thoughts. Finally she sighed and decided to just tell him. "Okay…the thing is…" she began. "You're the first guy that I've brought home to meet my dad." She said.

"Oh. Okay." Troy hadn't expected that, but found himself wondering why that freaked her out so much.

"Yeah…" she said. "And well, I'm sort of like, his little baby girl, so…" she took a deep breath. "It's kind of a big deal." She said carefully.

"Okay…" Troy bit his lip nervously.

"Look, if you don't want to come, then I completely understand." She told him. "I won't care, I'll think of some good excuse." She smiled slightly to make sure that he knew I was okay.

It seemed to Troy that she had transferred her freaked out feeling to him. They both knew that she had just dumped a whole lot of pressure on him. Part of him wanted to take her offer and back out, thinking that maybe it wasn't the right time for this. But then he remembered their conversation on the phone the other night, and how she had told him that it meant so much to her that he was going to meet her dad.

"No." he sighed. "I'll be there." He told her, gently grabbing her hands, which were hanging at her sides.

"Are you sure?" she asked carefully.

"Yes I'm sure." Troy told her. A big smile grew on her face.

"You know what, it doesn't really matter anyways." She said, moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around him. "Because nothing is going to make me stop loving you."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

That Saturday, Troy was surprised when instead of Gabriella, Jasmine answered the door. She looked at him for a moment before smiling. "You clean up nicely." She commented.

"Thanks." Troy stepped in when she moved out of the way.

"Wow, you're calm." Jaz noticed. "Gabby was freaking out this morning. It was sort of cute…" she laughed to herself.

Troy couldn't help but think that if only she knew what was going on in his head, she wouldn't have said that. Truthfully, he was anything but calm. "Yeah, so it seems." He told her, hoping she'd understand that.

"I see." Jaz nodded. "Well I'm sure you'll do fine. Come on." She told him. Troy followed her through the house to the back door, where Troy spotted Gabby smiling and laughing, standing beside a tall man who had his back to them. They were standing beside the barbecue. It looked like something good was cooking.

When Gabby heard the door open she turned around. The past few times it had opened, it had been her mom going in and out of the house with different plates of food. She was setting up the table outside for a nice meal.

Gabby was happy to see that instead of her mother going inside, it was Jaz, followed by Troy. She left her dad's side to quickly go and hug him. "Looking great." She whispered in his ear before pulling away. She smiled at him. By now, her dad had noticed what was going on and had turned around to watch.

"Hello." He greeted the young man that was currently holding hands with his youngest daughter.

"Dad, this is Troy." Gabriella introduced him.

"Nice to meet you Troy. Her dad extended his hand.

"You too sir." Troy shook it politely.

Gabriella watched carefully as her dad looked Troy over. There were no signs of disapproval, which made her happy. "Well Troy, you're just in time, because it looks like this is done." Mr. Montez said cheerfully, turning to the barbecue to load stuff onto a platter for the table.

Troy took the moment to glance at Gabriella, who gave him a small smile. "Come on," she told him. "We're eating outside tonight."

Troy followed her over to the nicely set table. He sat beside Gabby on one side, while everyone took their seats in the other places. He noticed that Jaz looked slightly excited, which made him feel even more nervous. Not long after they were all beginning to eat the fabulous meal.

"So Troy, tell me about yourself." Mr. Montez said from the head of the table. "I would like to et to know the guy who my little Gabby says she loves."

Gabby felt like those words were the worst words she could possibly be hearing. Everyone around the table looked to Troy, who took a deep breath before opening his mouth to reply.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

By the end of the night, Gabriella had no doubt in her mind that her dad liked Troy. The dinner had gone perfect. Troy had answered every question of her dad's interrogation, calmly and politely. She had definitely had her doubts about the night, but now she couldn't feel happier.

"Well, this has been nice." Mr. Montez leaned back in his chair, setting his coffee cup down on the table.

"It has." Gabriella's mom agreed. She lovingly rubbed her husbands arm.

Troy casually looked at his watch. "Wow…I'd better get going. It's pretty late." He told them.

"Oh alright." Mrs. Montez smiled. "It was nice to see you again Troy." She told her daughter's boyfriend.

"You too." He smiled at her. "And nice to meet you sir." He told Gabby's dad.

"You as well." Mr. Montez stood up to shake his hand again. "I hope you continue to make my Gabriella happy, since it's obvious you are right now." he told him. Both of them looked at Gabriella, who had turned a deep shade of red.

"How about I walk you out Troy?" she said after a moment.

"Sure." He held out his hand and she took it to get up from her chair. "Bye." He told her parents one last time. "You too Jaz." He added to the older girl, who had surprisingly been quiet for the past little while.

"Bye Troy." She called back.

The young couple walked all the way to the front, and out the front door. Gabriella closed the door behind her so they would be alone. Troy stopped and turned around to say goodbye to her, and was suddenly pulled into a kiss.

"Wow." He told her. "So I'm just going to guess that I…"

"You were amazing." Gabby cut him off happily.

That shocked him for a minute. "Well I was going to say okay, but I guess amazing is pretty good too." He gave a small laugh, making her laugh too.

She gave him a weird look. "Are you a robot or something?" she asked unexpectedly.

"A robot?" Troy laughed. "Why would you ask that?"

"You're just too perfect to be real." She said with a small laugh.

Troy smiled. "You really think that?" he asked, getting a vigorous nod in reply from her.

"I'm so happy." She told him quietly. She saw his expression change at that. She was happy, and it was pretty obvious who was causing most of that happiness.

Troy leaned in to kiss her again. This time it was deep then before. Gabriella arched her back into him, bringing herself as close as she could possibly go to him.

"I'd better go." He told her when they broke apart.

"Okay…" Gabby nodded and let him go. He went for his car, looking back quickly, just to see her smile.


	28. Rainy Days

**Chapter 28 – Rainy Days...**

Gabriella tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel of her car, to the beat of the song that was playing on the radio. The light changed from red to green and she moved forward. She drove a little further before pulling into a parking lot and parking carefully in front of a little bakery. She got out of her car and locked it, proceeding into the bakery happily.

"Hi, can I help you?" the woman behind the counter asked.

"Do you have any chocolate croissants today?" Gabby asked hopefully.

The lady glanced quickly over his shoulder. "They're just finishing in the oven actually." She told her customer. "If you wait about five minutes they'll be nice and warm and fresh."

Gabby smiled. "That sounds perfect. I'll wait." She told the lady. She went to sit down for a few minutes at one of the tables at the window. She glanced outside and saw that the sun wasn't shining. It was a grey day and looked like it was about to begin to pour any moment.

Gabriella sat for a moment before pulling out her cell phone, dialing a familiar number, and laughing slightly. "Hello?" she heard Troy's tired voice after a few rings.

"Good morning." She told him, fully awake.

She could hear him moving around. "Gabby." He mumbled tiredly. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Um, about seven thirty." She informed him.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked in disbelief. "Look as much as I love talking to you, do we really need to at seven thirty in the morning?"

"Sorry, I didn't exactly plan on this." She told him. "But my dad left really early this morning, so I'm fully awake, because I got up to say goodbye." She added.

"I see." Troy sounded half asleep. "So what are you doing now then?"

"Now?" she smiled. "I am sitting the bakery waiting for a fresh batch of chocolate croissants to come out of the oven so that I can buy some and bring them to my boyfriend, who I just woke up." She informed him.

"Seriously?" Troy sounded a little more awake. "How did you know chocolate croissants were my favorite?"

"I said my boyfriend, not you." She joked.

"Very funny." Troy replied. "Really, is that why you're calling?" he asked to make sure.

"Yes." Gabby laughed.

"Okay."

"So do you want to have breakfast with me this morning?" she asked him.

Troy gave a small laugh. "Do I have a choice?" he asked.

"No, not really." Gabby replied, laughing again.

"Then I'll see you soon."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Mmm, that smells good." Troy commented twenty minutes later when he opened the front door of his house and was greeted by the wafting smell of fresh baking. "I'm officially awake." He let Gabriella in and followed her to the kitchen.

"I thought that might happen." She said happily, setting the coffees she had also bought to go along with their breakfast on the counter top.

"Okay then, I'm starving let's eat!" Troy said happily, grabbing for the bag she was still holding.

"Not so fast." Gaby smirked when she pulled the bag away. "Don't I get a hello, or good morning or something?" she asked.

"How could I possibly forget?" Troy moved in closer, pinning her between him and the counter. Gabriella laughed, but not for long since he quickly covered it up with a kiss.

Troy completely forgot about the breakfast she had brought him. The two of them were getting a little carried away, when they both heard someone clear their throat loudly. Both looked to the doorway of the kitchen, where Troy's dad was standing, looking tired and a little shocked.

"Hello Gabriella." He said to the girl who was currently in the process of turning red from embarrassment.

"Hi Mr. Bolton." She smiled sheepishly, still in Troy's arms. "Want a chocolate croissant? I brought tons." She told him.

"I don't think I could refuse that offer." Jack replied with a smile. It seemed as if Gabriella had struck it right when she had decided on chocolate croissants. The Bolton men seemed to love them.

"Perfect." Gabby smiled, picking up everything she had brought and bringing it over to the table in the middle of the room.

Troy and his dad shared a glance before going and sitting down at the table. The three of them happily finished all of the croissants. When they were done, Troy's dad leaned back in his chair.

"Well that was nice." He commented, smiling across the table to the two teenagers.

"Yeah." Troy agreed. "A good surprise." He smiled at Gabriella and reached under the table, entwining their fingers together, hidden from view.

"I'm glad." She told them both. She glanced to the clock and her smile faded a little. "I'd better get going. I have to get to work."

"Yeah same here actually." Troy replied. They both got up from the table.

In that moment a huge crash of thunder was heard from outside, followed quickly with a flash of lighting. "Whoa!" Gabby ran to the window. "Look it's starting to rain like crazy." She told them.

"Hm, I wonder if the camp is going to be on today?" Troy wondered aloud,standing beside her and looking out.

"It's not looking so good." Gabby commented.

"Yeah I guess not." Troy laughed.

"Well, I think I really should go." Gabriella sighed. "The rain is going to make the roads full of traffic." She groaned. "I'll see you later." She kissed Troy on the cheek.

"Drive safe." Troy's dad told her in a parental way.

"I will." She replied. "Bye." She left quickly, running out to her car before she could get drenched. She definitely hadn't expected this to happen today.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Gabriella finally got to the McKessie's restaurant that morning, her sweater was completely drenched from the rain. It was pouring so hard that just running from her car to the door of the building had soaked her.

"Oh my god it's raining that hard now?" Taylor saw her first and looked at her fearfully.

"Yeah." Gabby peeled off her sweater while the two of them walked to the back together. "It happened really fast." She added. "But oh well, a little rain never hurt."

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever noticed that everything bad happens when it's raining?" she asked her friend.

"Not true." Gabby pointed out. "There have been so many good things that have happened in the pouring rain." She smiled.

"Really?" Taylor put a hand on her hip. "And what would those things be?"

Gabby looked at her and shook her head quietly. "Taylor, the most memorable kisses have happened in the rain." She told her. "Think about it…. Breakfast At Tiffany's…The Notebook…. Even Spider Man." She gave a small laugh. "Those kisses were all so romantic." She sighed.

Taylor laughed. "Yeah you're right." She finally agreed. She watched Gabby lean on the counter thoughtfully. "So what's with you? You seem really happy today." She noted.

Gabriella was silent for a moment. "That's because I am Tay." She told her friend. She turned and started their daily routine of setting out all of the tables.

It took Taylor a moment to remember. "Oh I totally forgot." She followed Gabby. "How did Troy meeting your dad go?" she asked, wanting to hear every detail.

Gabriella thought about it first, which drove Taylor crazy. "Perfect." She finally told her. "I can't believe I freaked out about it." She went back to working, Taylor looked satisfied.

"What's she all weird looking for?" Tristan asked Taylor, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

Taylor gasped in shock. "Seriously, you can't just sneak up on people like that!" she told him angrily.

"Alright, alright! Sorry." He backed away a bit. "But explain, please?" he asked.

"Gabriella," Taylor started, quietly so she wouldn't overhear. "Is madly in love."

"I see." He replied uninterestedly.

"Yeah." Taylor gave him a look before going off to get busy just like Gabriella.

Gabriella suddenly turned around to talk Taylor. "Hey Tay…Oh hey Tristan." She looked a little surprised to see him. "Have a good weekend?" she asked.

"Yeah it was alright." He replied with a shrug. "How about yours?" he asked.

Gabriella thought again of her weekend and smiled. "It was good." She told him simply, placing some cutlery and napkins on the table she was working on.

"That was a loaded good." He raised his eyebrows at her.

Gabriella gave a small laugh and looked at him. "You wouldn't want to hear about it." She shook her head lightly.

"Alright then…" he dropped it. "Oh, I brought that book you said you wanted to read, but couldn't find anywhere." He told her.

"Really?" she was excited, she had been dying to get that book.

Tristan shrugged. "Yeah." He confirmed.

"I'll have to get it from you later then." She smiled, watching him walk away before he got caught not working. The front door opened and a few people came in, shaking off the wetness from outside.

"Hey there's Gabby." She heard one of the people say. She looked up from what she was doing and instantly smiled.

"What are you doing here?" she left what she was doing and walked towards the entrance, where a wet looking trio of familiar boys was standing.

"B-ball camp was cancelled." Troy told her.

"We decided to come and hang out for a little while." Jason added, pulling off his jacket.

"Alright, well….table for three then?" Gabby asked, laughing slightly.

"Yep," Chad replied for them all.

Gabriella led the three guys through the restaurant to a booth by one of the windows. "Alright here you go." She told them. "Chad, I'll let Tay know you're here." She told him before he could ask. "I'll be back." She finished before turning away.

On her way she glanced towards the kitchen, where she spotted Tristan leaning against the counter waiting for an order to be ready. Gabby suddenly didn't have the greatest feeling about this. Maybe Taylor was right. Maybe the rain could only bring bad things.


	29. Only Equal Disaster

**Chapter 29: … Only Equal Disaster**

Taylor laughed when Gabriella came into the kitchen and told her about the three guys currently sitting in the booth in the front of the restaurant. "I can't believe they're just here to hang out." She shook her head.

"Yeah…" Gabriella trialed off. She was slightly perturbed at the thought that had appeared in her mind moment ago about troubles with Tristan.

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked her, noticing quickly. I thought you'd be ecstatic to have a certain Mr. Bolton hanging around all day

"Yeah I am," Gabby smiled. "It's just…" Gabriella was about to admit her worries to Taylor when the door of the kitchen swung open and Tristan interrupted their conversations for a second time that morning. "Never mind." She sighed, before grabbing a pot of coffee that was waiting on the counter on her way back out. She had just enough time to give Tristan a look before disappearing.

Tristan stopped what he was doing in confusion. He braved a glance over at Taylor who gave him practically the same look. "Okay, what is with you two today?" he asked her weirdly.

"Nothing." Taylor answered stiffly. She had just realized why Gabriella had seemed so unsure about the guys being there.

Tristan leaned on the counter. "Nothing is always something." He told her, raising his eyebrows. "Come on tell me."

"What's the point if you already know?" Taylor shot back.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tristan shrugged easily.

Taylor was frustrated. "I don't believe that for a second." She shook her head. "I know that you saw who came in here a few minutes ago." She told him.

"Oh." Tristan nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right then." He told her.

Taylor looked at him carefully. "Look, I don't really know you…at all, but Gabby and Troy are happy, got it? So if anything happens…" she said warningly.

"What are you implying?" Tristan asked her.

Taylor shrugged. "I just find your fascination with my best friend a little weird." She told him. Tristan immediately shook his head, laughing slightly to himself. "What?" Taylor asked.

"Do you think that I'm going to try to steal her away or something?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't know…" Taylor suddenly wasn't so sure.

Tristan picked up his pad of paper and a pen, sticking them in his pocket. "Well if that's what's going on… then don't freak out at me okay?" He told the girl standing in front of him. "Gabriella isn't my type." He finished, turning and walking towards the kitchen doors now that he was ready.

"Somehow I don't think that will matter!" Taylor called after him. She stood there for a moment before deciding that she better get out there herself. She sighed while she got what she needed, hoping to god that nothing would happen.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A few hours later, everyone was completely aware of what was going on. Gabriella was constantly being pulled from table to table, from Troy Chad and Jason, to Tristan and Taylor in the kitchen. It was beginning to drive her a little bit crazy. Taylor kept her eye on the whole situation, making sure that her warning had gotten through to Tristan.

It was on Gabriella's second coffee rounds that morning when things started getting messy. She got all of the tables in the restaurant before heading over to the guy's table. "Refill?" she asked happily when she got to them.

"Yes please." Chad said instantly, smiling as she filled up all three of their mugs.

"Okay, your food should be coming any minute now." she told them when she was done. "Need anything else?"

Jason laughed. "This is great. Gabriella Montez in waitress action." He joked.

"Oh, shutup." Gabby smirked. "Seriously, anything else?" she looked to each of them, her eyes landing on Troy last.

"No we're good." Troy let her go, when he noticed that Tristan was watching by the counter right beside the kitchen, obviously waiting for an order. "Actually," he watched her turn back around to face them. "I think there's something in here." He pointed to his coffee.

Gabriella scrunched her nose up. "Ew, really?" she asked. "Where? She bent over to look inside his mug, searching for something that wasn't there. "Are you sure?

I don't see anything." She told him. She looked up when he didn't answer, and his lips instantly caught hers. Gabby kissed him for a moment before pulling away and standing up straight. "You little liar, you actually had me freaked out there." She laughed.

"Sorry, couldn't help it." Troy shrugged, smiling and leaning back. He noticed Tristan had disappeared.

"Well I hope you think about that when you leave your tip." Gabby stated jokingly, before walking away for good. She avoided looking at Tristan when she walked past him. Luckily he was preoccupied with carrying a bunch of plates of food. She decided to go to the washroom quickly. She needed a little break anyways.

When she got into the single person bathroom, she sighed and leaned against the door for a moment. Apparently she had gotten stressed out for nothing. Things had been fine so far. She smiled and turned on the water tap, splashing some on her face. It felt refreshing, unlike the rain pouring down outside, which made her feel gross. She dried her face and fixed her hair, noticing there were stray pieces hanging out of her loose ponytail.

Suddenly there was a banging on the door. "Gabby I think you had better get out here right now!" she heard Taylor call through the door.

"What?" she said to herself before turning and opening the door. "What's wrong Taylor?" she asked, when she saw that Taylor looked a little stressed out.

"I don't know what happened, but it seems like Troy and Tristan have gotten into something…" Taylor told her quickly.

"What?" Gabby said in shock. "But I've only been in here for a few minutes."

"Come on!" Taylor grabbed her wrist and dragged her out to the open area of the restaurant.

Gabriella looked to where the guys were sitting and saw that Troy was standing and talking to Tristan, who seemed to have unloaded all of the food he had been carrying. Her and Taylor weaved through the tables quickly.

"What is going on here?" she quickly asked when she finally got there. The two of them were staring angrily at each other and didn't reply. She looked to Chad and Jason, who were watching from the booth. They just shrugged and shook their heads unknowingly. "Guys?" she repeated.

Tristan shrugged casually. "I just felt the need to comment on the fact that these guys seem to have nothing better to do then hang around while their girlfriends are busy working." He told her finally. Gabby sighed. Of course something like that would get Troy riled up.

"Yet I don't know why he seems to care so much." Troy added.

Tristan laughed. "The best part is that I don't" he smirked.

Troy shook his head. "I don't know how you can stand this guy everyday." He shot back.

"Apparently she can." Tristan told him, knowing exactly how he would react. The two of them completely forgot about Gabriella and were intensely staring each other, ready for what would come next. Gabby realized she need to end this now because she was a little scared of what Troy might do. She knew he was holding back because she was standing right there.

"Whoa, guy's stop!" Gabriella stepped in between them, holding her hands out to separate them. She sighed in annoyance. "Please, this is a restaurant, don't fight here." She pleaded with them. Both guys stayed silent, which bugged her even more. She turned to Troy. "Maybe you should just go." She told him.

"Why?" he asked stubbornly.

Gabriella sighed. "Please Troy." She said tiredly.

Troy thought of disagreeing and acting completely stubborn, but decided against it when he saw the look on his girlfriend's face. He could either make this worse or give up for now. "Fine." He finally agreed.

She stepped towards him and put her hands on her chest. "I'll see you later okay?" she whispered to him.

Troy nodded silently. "Okay." He replied stiffly.

Satisfied, Gabriella gave him a kiss before stepping away. "Bye." She told him, still whispering. She wished that Tristan wasn't standing there, watching them so that she could say more. She could completely understand why Troy didn't smile, or even look the slightest bit happy.

"Come on guys." Troy told Chad and Jason, who immediately got up and followed him out, right after quickly leaving some money off the table.

Gabriella winced when the door slammed behind them. She turned around to get back to work, finding herself face to face with Tristan, who she had absolutely nothing to say to. She walked past him, followed by Taylor, who sighed, wondering how she hadn't stopped that from happening.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later, Gabby rang the doorbell twice, standing on the Bolton's front step and shivered from the chill of the rain. She could feel where the big drops had soaked through her thin spring jacket. Troy's dad answered the door, followed closely by Bear, who by now had gotten used to seeing Gabriella at the door almost every day.

"Oh, hello Gabriella." He smiled at her. "Come on in before you get soaked."

"Thanks." She said happily, stepping in when he moved out of the doorway. "Is Troy…upstairs?" she asked.

"Yep, you know where." Jack replied, laughing slightly to himself as he watched her quickly run up the stairs to his son's room.

"Troy?" Gabriella called softly, pushing open his door slowly. She nervously went in, not really knowing what to expect from him after what had happened earlier.

He was sitting on his bed, but got up when he saw her. "Hey." He said, seeming much calmer and less angry then a few hours before. They were both silent for a moment. "So look, about earlier…"

"I don't need an explanation or anything." Gabby cut him off. "I get it. Tristan is just…." She tried to find a word.

"A jerk?" Troy finished for her.

Gabriella looked at him. "No, he's complicated." She told him. "You just can't take everything he say seriously." She added.

"I know…" Troy sighed. "I just hate that guy..." He shrugged. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it. I don't know how you put up with him." He told her.

"Fair enough…" Gabriella nodded. "You don't have to like him." She assured him. "But you don't need to compete with him either okay?" she told him gently. "I don't know why, but for some reason he just likes to push your buttons. Don't let him." She moved closer and wrapped her arms around Troy, feeling him automatically doing the same.

"I know…" he sighed again and kissed her lightly on the top of her head. The two of them stood like that for a while, until Troy suddenly felt Gabby start shivering. "Are you cold?" he stood back a little bit, looking at her to see.

"It's still pouring out." She told him. "I got drenched on my way from my car."

"Well…here." Troy picked up a sweater that was sitting on his desk chair and gave it to her. "Don't freeze on me." He smiled at her.

Gabby laughed lightly before taking off her own sweater and slipping his big one over her small frame. "Oh my god it's huge." She laughed.

"It's cute…" he laughed and pulled her back into him. "Warmer?" he asked, looking down at her.

She tilted her head. "I'm getting there." She smiled. She thought she knew what might happen next.

"Would this help at all?" Troy asked. Sure enough, he leaned down and kissed her.

"Yeah I think so." Gabby whispered against his lips. The two of them got into it and ended up slowly making their way to his bed. They fell onto it together, Troy on top of Gabriella. She pulled away a little and laughed, looking up at him. "Definitely warmer now." she told him quietly.

"Good." Troy gave her one final short kiss before rolling onto the bed beside her, lying on his side and facing her.

Gabriella turned towards him and lifted one of her hands, gently playing with his hair while staring into those deep blue eyes. Troy lifted his hand and grabbed hers from his hair. He held it with his and brought it to his lips, gently kissing her fingers. Gabby smiled happily at this.

Suddenly the look on Troy's face grew serious. "Gabby can I ask you something?" he broke the silence.

"Of course." Gabby wondered what it could be.

"Have you ever thought about doing…it?" Troy asked gently.

Gabriella didn't have to ask what he meant by that. It wasn't really unexpected to her. She couldn't truthfully say that she hadn't thought about it, because she definitely had. Part of her wanted it, but the other part was scared. Scared of what could happen, of things spinning out of control, that it might be too soon for them.

"Yes." She replied after a moment, adding a little nod. "But I don't think we should…not yet."

"Okay." Troy whispered. He felt her move closer to him. She gave him a soft kiss before snuggling up against him. He smiled, loving the feeling of just lying there with her, listening to the rain still coming down outside. They stayed there for a long time, and before they knew it, both of them had sleepily closed their eyes, falling into a comfortable sleep together.


	30. Anything But Weird

**Thought I'd post some more. I really want to get this caught up.**

**So yeah, another chapter, hope you all like it!**

**And thanks for the reviews!**

**Chapter 30: Anything But Weird**

The next morning, Gabriella felt the sun from outside, hitting her eyelids. She opened them up slowly, blinking a few times from the brightness of where she was.

That was when she realized that she wasn't in her own room. In fact, she wasn't even under the covers or anything. Most of all, she was slightly shocked to realize that she was curled up next to Troy, who had his arms tightly wrapped around her. She remembered lying there with him the night before. They must have fallen asleep like that.

"Troy." She whispered, looking up at his face. She smiled when she saw his eyes open, blinking in the same way that she had, to adjust to the bright sun.

"Did we fall asleep?" he asked quietly when he had gotten used to the light.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah." She smiled again. She let out a little giggle. "You know, you look really cute when you're…" she stopped when her phone started ringing from where she left her purse, in the middle of the floor. It was paired with the sound of Troy's alarm clock going off from the bedside table. He groaned and leaned over to turn it off, while Gabriella quickly got up to answer her phone.

"Oh god it's my mom." She noticed when she looked to see who it was. "Hello?" she answered it, knowing what might be coming.

"Gabriella Marie Montez, where are you?" her mothers voice came loudly into her ear. "I wake up and find you gone, with no calls or anything!" she informed her.

"I know, I'm sorry mom." Gabby winced and saw Troy watching her fearfully. Lisa Montez was a sweet, loving person, but boy could she be strict. "I was…at Taylor's and we fell asleep watching a movie. We only just woke up so that's why I never called." She made up and excuse, waiting to see if her mom would believe it.

"Alright," Gabriella heard her say, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Just try to call next time, it makes me worry less." Mrs. Montez told her daughter.

"I will." Gabby assured her. She hung up, still relieved that she had just dodged getting in a huge argument with her mom.

"Nice." Troy commented, laughing lightly at her little white lie.

Gabby shrugged. "Rearrange the letters and add a few and you can turn Troy into Taylor." She laughed.

"Whatever you say." Troy shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed. Gabby went over and he pulled her in, she leaned close to kiss him.

"What time is it?" she suddenly pulled away, realizing she hadn't checked yet. All she knew was that it was obviously morning. She turned her head to look at the clock and gasped. "Oh my god, I have to get to work!" she said in shock.

"What?" Troy hadn't expected that.

"It's eight thirty." She told him, freaking out. "I'm supposed to be there at nine, what am I going to do? I can't go home first because I'll be late."

"Uh…" Troy started. He watched her go into his bathroom to see how she looked and quickly get ready.

Suddenly she came out and looked at him. "It just occured to me that I'm going to be going in the same clothes." She told him, having calmed down a bit. She gave a small laugh. "Can I borrow a shirt?" she asked, laughing a little more.

Troy shrugged. "I think we figured out last night that my clothes are just a little bit to bit for you." He informed her, thinking of the over-sized sweater she was still wearing.

"I'm sure I'll think of something." She smirked. Troy just shook his head and wordlessly went into his closet, coming out with a t-shirt that he threw over to her. "Thanks." She smirked before going back into the bathroom. Inside, she stripped off Troy's big sweater and her shirt from the day before. She slipped on the one he had just given her, laughing slightly when she saw how big it looked. But she fixed it by gathering it up and tying it with the hair elastic on her wrist, tucking it under to hide the mess. She quickly fixed her hair, splashed some water on her face, and went back out. "There." She smiled at Troy, who looked over and laughed. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He smirked. "I like that on you." He told her.

"Oh be quiet." She rolled her eyes and picked up her purse. "I'll see you later." She gave him a quick kiss before heading off, hoping there wouldn't be any traffic.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella got to the restaurant a little later then she had hoped. Luckily, no one had noticed though. She ran into Taylor in the back, where she was getting ready for the day.

"Hey." Taylor smiled at her. "How did things go last night?" she asked. She knew that Gabriella had been planning on heading to Troy's right after work, after the little incident that had happened.

"They went fine actually." Gabby smiled. "Thankfully."

"That's good." Taylor smiled. She suddenly noticed what Gabby was wearing. "Nice shirt." She smirked, knowing exactly who's it was. She wasn't smart for nothing.

Gabby sighed. "I know." she laughed. "But it was either this or the same thing as yesterday so…" she trailed off, realizing that she hadn't really wanted to say that out loud.

"So you stayed over at Troy's?" Taylor asked. She saw Gabby turn a little red. "Things must have gone really well then…" she commented.

"No!" Gabriella corrected her quickly. "It's really not what you think Taylor." She informed her.

"You can't hide it Gabby." Taylor smiled. "But it's okay, I wont tell anyone." She reassured her. "It's about time, anyways." She added at the end with a little shrug.

Gabriella got redder. "No, really." She said seriously. "We were just lying on his bed and fell asleep." She told her.

"Oh, okay." Taylor sounded a little disappointed.

"Is that what you really thought?" Gabby asked her uncomfortably.

Taylor shrugged. "I don't know. You guys have been going out for a while." She began. "I figured you would have done it by now."

"Really?" Gabriella bit her lip. She became lost in thought. What was with all of this sex talk all of a sudden? She wasn't sure. Coming from Taylor, it seemed like her and Troy should have had it by now. They had definitely come close a few times. So why was she holding back? What was she scared of?

"Gabby?" Taylor looked at her friend carefully. "You okay? You seem a little freaked out." She told her.

"Yeah I'm fine." Gabriella decided to not let it distract her. She grabbed what she needed and went out to the open area of the restaurant, ready to take some orders. At the door, she saw someone who felt like she hadn't seen in forever. Kelsi was standing there, stuffing a pile of papers into her bag, and patiently waiting to be seated.

"Hey Kels," Gabby greeted her happily. "I haven't seen you in a while, have you been working on your musical this whole time?" she asked.

She nodded happily. "I know this is going to sounds completely freakish, but I had a stroke of creativity." Kelsi told her. "I just couldn't stop. I think this is the best music I've written so far." She smiled.

"That sounds good!" Gabby was excited. Whatever Kelsi wrote, she would happily perform for her. That is if she wanted her to. "I want to hear it sometime."

"Yeah well I'm still finishing it up." Kelsi told her. "My mom kicked me out of the house though. She said it was too nice to be inside everyday." She rolled her eyes. "I guess she does have a point, it is really nice outside."

Gabby simply nodded. As much as she loved Kelsi, she had always been a little odd. Still, she was her good friend, and it was nice to see her. "Well, want to come sit at the counter, that way we can talk more."

"Sounds good to me." Kelsi said happily.

Gabby got her a good seat and made sure she had a menu before turning away. "I'm going to tell Taylor you're here." She told her. Kelsi nodded, and Gabriella turned away to go into the kitchen. She was on her way until she heard her name called from the front. She turned to see who it could possibly be since she didn't recognize the voice.

At the door, she saw two people that gave her quite a shock. It was Troy's mom, and her boyfriend, Kevin. They were waiting patiently at the door, so she went to find them a place to sit.

"Hi." She said happily.

"Gabriella, hello!" Diane Montgomery knew her son's girlfriend. "I didn't know you worked here." She said happily.

"Yeah, summer job." Gabriella smiled at her.

"Well it's nice to see you." Diane told her. "You remember Kevin right?" she asked, putting a hand on his back.

"Yes, nice to see you again." Gabby said politely. "Um, table for two then?" she asked awkwardly.

"Sure." Kevin replied happily. Gabriella led then to an open table. "I'll be back." She told them with a smile before heading back to the kitchen. When she got there she took a deep breath. This was weird.

"What's up with you?" Taylor asked her, giving her an odd look.

Gabby bit her lip, in deep thought. Suddenly she gave a small laugh. "I'm having a weird day so far." She laughed a little harder.

"Okay…." Taylor said hesitantly. "What's so weird about it?"

Gabby simply shrugged. "Well first there was this morning, which was…interesting since I hadn't expected it. But the thing is, it wasn't awkward or anything, it was completely opposite." She started, thinking about how she had accidentally stayed at Troy's for the whole night, and how there had been no awkwardness at all when they had woken up.

"Okay, what else?" Taylor asked, having already heard about that.

"Oh." Gabby broke out of her thoughts. "Well, Kelsi seems to have come out for the first time in like, a week or so." She informed her. "And I just seated Troy's mom and her boyfriend, who are currently on a date." She sighed.

"Why is that so weird?" Taylor asked. She hadn't heard too much about Troy's parents.

Gabriella pushed some hair out of her face. "I don't know." she sighed. "Troy isn't exactly happy about them." She told Taylor. "He tries to be, but he just…." She trailed off and shrugged.

"I'm guessing that you don't understand why he just can't accept her being happy?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah I guess." Gabby said. "I've never really had to deal with that kind of thing though, so I cant really tell him what to think." She shrugged again. "It's complicated."

Taylor looked at her carefully. "You know, you're not going to be betraying Troy or anything if you just serve them a meal." She told Gabby. "If that's the reason this is so weird for you."

"I guess you're right." Gabby sighed. "I'd better get back out there then." She grabbed a coffee pot and forced herself towards the door. "Oh, go see Kelsi." She called back to Taylor, who nodded in response.

"Coffee?" she asked Diane and Kevin when she got back to their table.

"Yes please." They replied happily, watching her fill up their cups. Diane looked up and a shocked expression came to her face. "Tristan Cooper, is that you?" she asked suddenly, looking past Gabriella.

Gabby turned around and sure enough, there at the next table over, was Tristan, who seemed to just be finishing taking the people's orders. He came over when he was finished and smiled at her politely.

"Oh, hello Ms. Montgomery." He said politely. "I didn't see you."

"I didn't know you worked here too." Diane said happily. "You and Gabriella must know each other then." She said.

Everyone looked at Gabby, who was a little taken aback at this whole situation. Tristan was like a different person in front of Ben and Troy's mom, just like that day when she had talked to him. "Um, yeah." She replied. "We know each other, a little." She replied oddly. Why was this day getting weirder and weirder?

"We all missed Tristan while he was gone." Diane went on, mostly informing Kevin of what was going on. He looked about as confused as Gabby. "But everything is alright now, and he's back. Looking good and happy too." She commented.

This did nothing to clear things up for Gabriella, who only knew that Tristan had been gone for a while. She didn't know why though, which is what made Diane's words make her curious. Why had he been gone in the first place? She looked at Tristan to see if she would get any clues.

"Uh, well I'd better get back to work." He said uncomfortably. He turned to leave, with no one stopping him.

"Me too." Gabby told them, before heading in the same direction as him. They both ended up in the kitchen.

"What do you want?" Tristan asked when she came up to where he was waiting for food to come out. He suddenly wasn't so polite and soft.

"What's with you?" she asked, suddenly feeling frustrated with him. "You can be so sweet and polite, yet you choose to act like a jerk most of the time."

"You're just one more person who thinks that." He shrugged, unbothered by her words. "I'm sorry that I can't constantly seem as perfect as your boyfriend seems to be." He blurted out.

Gabby sighed in disgust. "Oh don't even bring Troy into this, especially after what happened yesterday." She warned.

"Hey, it's not my fault that he's defensive." Tristan told her.

"Yeah, well I'm not stupid." She informed him. "I know that you somehow got him all worked up." She added. He was about to reply to that but she cut him off. "You know I just don't understand how you can switch so much, why not just be like I just saw you all the time?" she asked.

Tristan looked at her and let out something between a laugh and a sigh. "Maybe I just don't feel like it." He told her, before grabbing the food that had appeared on the counter and taking it out. He left Gabby standing their frustrated. She just didn't understand him. But there was also something she knew made him the way he was. What could it be?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later that night, Troy and Gabriella walked out of the movie theatre together. Gabby had a grimace on her face, but stayed silent. Troy looked over and noticed.

"What's wrong? He asked with a small laugh.

"Could that movie have been any gorier?" she asked, still thinking about it.

"Oh." Troy was suddenly a little less happy. He had already pushed it out of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't realize it would be so bad." He told her.

"It's okay." Gabby smiled a little. "But wait, aren't you the one who's scared of blood? How did that not gross you out?" she asked.

"I am not scared of blood." Troy told her.

"Uh, yeah you are." She smirked. "I seem to remember having to clean you up after accidentally giving you a nosebleed, because you thought you were going to be sick." She pointed out.

Troy laughed. "I forgot about that." He admitted. He thought about it for a moment. "Wasn't that when we first kissed?" he asked after a while.

Gabby smiled. "Yeah, it was." She said happily.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a little, before Troy looked at her again. "So, you've been pretty quiet tonight," he told her. "Is everything okay?" he asked, wanting to make sure.

Gabriella was silent for a moment. "I had a weird day." She finally told him, deciding that he didn't really need every little detail.

"This isn't included in weird is it?" Troy asked carefully.

Gabby smiled. "No." she told him. She reached down and grabbed his hand "This is anything but weird."


	31. Full Of Surprises

**Chapter 31: Full of Surprises**

Troy woke up slowly that Saturday, tossing and turning a few times and wasting away the morning. He was half asleep when he heard his door slowly creak open. In his state, he didn't think to wonder what could have been causing it to do that.

"Sh…" A little voice whispered. "You're going to wake him up."

"Well duh!" a different voice hissed back. "That's the idea Jimmy."

"Sh!" the first voice replied, more urgently. Both were silent for a while. "Okay ready?' the little voice whispered.

"One…two…" the other one began.

"Three!" they both forgot about their whispers and screamed the word, causing Troy to switch from barely awake, to wide awake in a second, not from his alarm clock, or even from the bright sun shining through his eyelids, but from his two younger cousins launching themselves onto his bed.

He opened his eyes to find his two cousins that lived far away. His first reaction to seeing them there was shock. He wouldn't have guessed that the two of them would wake him up. First there was Natalie, who was twelve going on thirteen and a constant chatterbox. She was definitely not shy, and always said what was on her mind, sometimes getting herself into trouble. She could annoy Troy to death, but at the same time the two of them could hang out and play basketball for hours.

Her little brother Jimmy, was six years old. He was the weirdest kid ever. One minute, he could be off the wall crazy, and the next he was sitting quietly reading a book. No one ever knew quite what to expect of Jimmy. He was the Bolton baby.

"What…are you to crazy kids doing here?" Troy asked, sitting up when he had woken up a bit more.

"We're visiting….duh!" Natalie stated, rolling her eyes dramatically and putting one of her favorite words to use.

"Uncle Jack told us to get you up!" Jimmy added enthusiastically. "He said that the first half of the day…"

"Is the best half of the day…" Troy finished for the little boy, knowing his dad's favorite saying by now. "Alright well how about you guys go downstairs and I'll be there in a few minutes." He told them.

"Okay." Natalie got up, brushing some imaginary dust off of her jean covered leg. Troy realized she was like a mini Sharpay Evans. "Come on Jimmy!" she ordered her little brother.

"See you later dude!" Jimmy waved happily before slamming the door behind him. The two of them left Troy laughing lightly before he yanked himself out of bed.

As Troy stepped into his bathroom for a quick shower, he found himself wondering what they were doing in Albuquerque. His uncle, his dad's brother, was constantly busy with work, much like Gabriella's father, except for the traveling. Him and his wife and children all lived in Chicago, pretty far away from their closest relatives. They didn't usually come down for visits, so this was a pleasant surprise.

When he was showered and dressed, Troy made his way downstairs, to find that everyone was gathered in the kitchen. It didn't take long at all for everyone to notice the older teenage boy coming into the room.

"Ah! There's one of my favorite nephews." Troy's uncle Brian exclaimed from the other side of the kitchen.

Troy gave a laugh, knowing plain well that him and Ben were his uncle's only nephews. Nevertheless, he went over to give his uncle a hug. "Hey uncle Brian, aunt Kathy." He gave her a hug too.

"Look how big you've gotten!" Kathy said happily, smoothing out his shirt in a motherly way. "And in a few months too. Stop growing it makes me feel old!" she laughed.

"Can't promise anything." Troy shrugged, smirking while he grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later that day, everyone was out back of the large house, catching up while sitting around in the sun. Ben had been called and had quickly come over, so now both boys were there, being grilled by their uncle about what had happened recently in their lives.

"Hey! Anyone!" Natalie called from the door, interrupting the conversation. She had been inside getting something to drink. "The doorbell just rang!" she said when she had their attention.

"Well did you answer it?" her mother asked.

The girl shrugged. "No." she replied, as if it was obvious. Her mother was about to begin a lecture, when Troy got up.

"I'll get it." He told them all. "Don't worry about it." He walked towards Natalie.

"I'm coming too!" Jimmy announced, getting up from where he had been playing in the grass with the dog and followed his older cousin. Troy let him tag along.

When he pulled open the door he saw Gabby standing on the front step, pulling a large pair of sunglasses off of her face and looking in the opposite direction to a car that was waiting at the end of the driveway.

"Gabby?" Troy asked when she didn't seem to notice the door had opened behind her. He hadn't expected to see her since they hadn't talked at all today.

She gave a little frightened jump before turning around. "Hey." She laughed lightly before leaning into give him a kiss, not seeing the little boy by his side.

"Hey." Troy replied, suddenly wondering if he had somehow forgotten about plans they had made. He couldn't have, could he? "What are you doing here?" he asked carefully, hoping that wasn't the case.

To his relief, Gabriella kept the smile on her face. "Actually, I…"

"Oh my gosh!" Jimmy suddenly exclaimed and took off towards the back of the house. When he got there, he threw open the door and stuck his head out. "Troy kissed a girl at the door!" he announced to everyone in the backyard.

"Um…" Gabby started after a moment. Troy could see that she had gone a little red. "Who was that?" she asked.

"My little cousin" Troy told her.

"Okay…" Gabriella took a step back, obviously a little confused.

"My aunt and uncle came down for a visit." Troy tried to clear things up a bit. "Apparently to surprise us, since I had no idea until Jimmy an Natalie woke me up this morning." He told her, not wanting her to think that he was hiding more family stuff from her.

Gabby broke out into another smile. "Oh, okay." She said.

"Yeah." Troy nodded. "So, not that I don't want to see you or anything, but why the sudden drop-in?" he asked.

"Oh." Gabby gave a small laugh. "Well, the girls and I wanted to go shopping, but we also wanted to hang out with you guys, so we've been going around and kidnapping each of you separately." She shook her head slightly, laughing "It was Taylor and Sharpay's idea." She informed him. "So that's why I didn't call."

"I see." Troy smiled. "Well I'd love to be kidnapped, but…"

"I got it." Gabriella nodded before he could explain further. "It's okay, I'll see you later." She told him.

"Okay, have fun." He was glad that she understood.

"Will do." She told him, slipping her sunglasses back on and running down the driveway to the car, where she quickly got in before it sped off.

Troy closed the door and started off towards the backyard again, scared of what might be coming after Jimmy's outburst.

"So, there's a girl now is there?" his uncle Brian asked with a smirk, when Troy had gotten back to the table they were all sitting around.

"Uh…yeah." Troy replied, sitting down. He was fine with all of his uncles other questions, but this made him slightly uncomfortable. Maybe it was because they had found out about said girl from a certain six-year-old boy running to tell them all that Troy had been kissing her in the front doorway.

"And you didn't invite her in to meet us?" Kathy went along with her husband.

"Actually, she was on her way out." Troy informed them, hoping that would do.

"Ah, alright." His uncle sat back.

His dad put his coffee down on the table and looked at Troy. "You know, you should invite Gabriella to our lunch tomorrow at the club."

"We're having lunch tomorrow at the club?" Troy asked. This morning was just full of surprises.

"Yep." His dad replied happily. "All of us, for a nice family lunch."

"Just peachy isn't it?" Ben muttered so only Troy could hear.

Troy bit his lip. "Yeah I don't know, I'll have to talk to her…" he didn't make any promises. He knew that it might be little too much family, and that Gabriella might just end up getting overwhelmed, which he really didn't want to happen. It didn't take a rocket scientist to notice how quickly she had gotten away from his house that morning.

But when he really thought about it, who couldn't love Gabriella? She managed to pull everyone that she met into some sort of trance. As far as Troy knew, she had no haters. Plus, she was great sport and would hang in there no matter how uncomfortable it was, if it even was. She'd do it for him.

So what was Troy waiting for?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"And then Chad spilt half of his smoothie into Taylor's lap and we had to go on and emergency hunt so that she could have something clean to wear." Gabby laughed at the end of her long tale of everything that had happened that day. It was amazing how much she could have to tell Troy in less then a day. She came out of her closet, where she had been putting some new clothes away, and looked at the guy sitting on the end of her bed. "I'm sorry, I just realized that I've been talking pretty much since you got here."

"It's alright," Troy laughed. "I like listening."

Gabby went over and sat beside him before lying back and closing her eyes. "I'm tired." She moaned. "Why does shopping exhaust you?"

"I wouldn't be the best person to ask that question." Troy laughed again, leaning back to lie beside her.

Gabriella gave a small laugh and was silent for a moment. Troy wondered if she was literally that tired and was actually falling asleep. But then she opened her eyes and turned towards him. "So, your family is in town?" she asked more seriously.

Troy had known this would come at some point. "Yeah." He answered, still trying to figure out how to ask her to lunch tomorrow.

Gabby hated when Troy gave one-worded answers that left her having to guess. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked carefully, hoping that it was a good thing.

To her relief, a smile came to Troy's face. "It's a good thing." He assured her.

"So….what's up then?" Gabby asked, wanting to know.

Troy took a deep breath. "Well we're all having lunch tomorrow," he started. "And I was hoping that you might come along." He waited for her reaction.

Gabriella smiled. "You want me to come meet your family?" she asked, getting a nod in return. "Well then of course I'll come." She told him.

"Okay." Troy was happy that had gone well. "So you want me to pick you up then?" he asked.

"Sure." Gabby replied. "Wait, where are we going?"

"To the club." Troy informed her.

Gabby suddenly didn't look so happy. "The club?" she repeated.

"Yeah." Troy watched her sit up uncomfortably, and did the same. "Is something wrong with that?" he asked carefully.

Gabriella bit her lip. "No it's just that….well I haven't had the best of luck when it comes to that club. Especially when it comes to meeting family of my boyfriend." She said nervously, wondering if Troy remembered.

"Oh yeah." Troy recalled. How could he possibly forget that day when she had found out about him and Ben being brothers? "Well…I don't think you have to worry about anything like that happening again." He told her comfortingly.

She took this in for a moment. "So there's no more twisted family secrets I should know about before this lunch?" she asked, letting out a small laugh.

"No." Troy laughed. "No more secrets." He told her while he pulled her in.

"Good." Gabby said happily. "Because I've found that those types of things just cause problems, which, I think we have both learnt, are extremely unnecessary and better off avoided." She added with a smirk.

"No arguments here." Troy agreed, placing a kiss on her lips.

"So tell me about your family." Gabriella said, settling down again, her head on hit chest and an arm across his stomach. She waited while Troy thought of what to say.

After a while he started. "Okay well, first, there's Natalie…."


	32. I Want This

**Chapter 32: "I Want This"**

Gabriella stepped out of her shower the next day, wringing her hair out before wrapping it up in a towel. She checked her clock, seeing that she didn't exactly have all the time in the world to get ready. So she quickly got dressed and dried her hair, deciding to let the loose curls fall over her shoulders instead of tying it up.

She went into her closet to find some shoes that would match the sundress she was wearing. She came out just as the door of her room opened. Troy came in, looking good in a blue button down shirt. "Hey." He smiled.

"Hey, you're just on time." Gabby told him, dropping her wedge sandals on the floor and slipping them on, bending over to tie them up her ankles.

"Ready to go?" Troy asked.

"Yep." Gabby smiled. She went over and kissed him hello. "You look good." She told him when she pulled away.

"You do too." Troy replied. "Let's go." He let his hand run along her waist before dropping it to grab her hand.

They went downstairs and were almost at the front door when Gabriella's mom came out of the living room. When she saw her daughter she smiled. "Oh are you leaving now?" she asked when she saw that Troy was there too.

"Yeah." Gabriella told her.

"I'm glad I caught you then." Her mom sighed in relief. "I know it's short notice, but can you be home for dinner tonight? The three of us haven't had a nice family dinner in a while."

"Um, sure." Gabriella agreed, figuring her mom was right. The three Montez girls had been busy the past little while.

"Great!" Lisa Montez got much happier at that. "Well, have a good lunch." She told Gabby. "See you later Troy." She told him.

When they got to the country club not long after, everyone was already there. Gabriella was nervous at first, until she met everyone. She decided right away that Troy's uncle was genuinely a nice guy, and apparently liked to joke around. His aunt was a sweetheart, Gabriella warmed up to her immediately. She figured that Natalie was a mix of Taylor and Sharpay, with Taylor's attitude and Sharpay's drama queen behavior. Troy had described her perfectly. The there was Jimmy, who acted years older then he really was and told her how pretty she was right after meeting her.

Apart from the four of them, there was Ben, and Troy's parents. She was a little surprised to see his mom at first, since the last time she had seen her, she had been out with Kevin. But still, it was good to see three people that she already knew.

They made it perfectly through the first part of lunch. Apparently, neither Gabriella or Troy had needed to worry about how it would go. She answered every question that came flying her way with patience, even when Natalie asked her if hair was naturally like that or if she had curled it. That had made everyone laugh. They seemed a little surprised at first to hear that Gabriella was not in fact involved in any sports and was really pretty much Troy's opposite.

"So tell us, how did you two meet then?" Troy's uncle asked when they were halfway through dessert.

"Brian!" his wife gave him a light slap on the arm. "I'm sure that's something that they don't want to share with everyone." She told him, watching as Troy and Gabriella gave each other a look.

"I'm just curious!" Brian defended himself, getting an eye roll from the woman beside her. "I'm sure it's nothing abnormal."

"Actually…" Gabriella started with a little embarrassed giggle.

"It was on vacation." Troy finished for her. "At the ski lodge."

Gabriella smiled. "They were doing this karaoke thing at the New Year's party and pulling people on stage randomly." She went on. "And we both got chosen." She shrugged.

"You're kidding me… Troy singing?" Natalie burst out, instantly slapping a hand over her mouth and suppressing a giggle.

"Hey!" Troy replied in shock to her comment.

Gabby laughed. "He's a good singer." She informed the younger girl truthfully.

"Aw, thanks." Troy put an arm around the back of his girlfriend's chair.

Gabby shook her head lightly. "Anyways, after that night we didn't think that we'd ever see each other again." She told them all.

"Until she showed up at East High on the first day back from holidays." Troy added. He looked over to Gabby, who nodded along with that comment.

"I have to admit, I wasn't exactly fond of Gabriella when she first showed up." Troy's dad told them all.

"Why not? She seems like an amazing girl." His brother asked in disbelief, causing Gabby to blush a little at the compliment.

"Dad thought she was distracting me from basketball." Troy told his uncle.

"And was she?" Brian asked.

"Maybe a little." Troy turned a bit red.

Gabriella smiled when she heard him admit that. "Only because I decided to audition for the musical, but we could only audition as pairs."

"That's so adorable!" Natalie gushed. Her dreamy smile turned into a scowl when everyone at the table laughed at her random comment.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When lunch was over, everyone went their separate ways. Since it was a nice day, most of them decided it would be nice to go out, but Troy pulled Gabby away, figuring that lunch had been enough. No one argued with that. The two of them walked silently across the parking lot, Troy's arm comfortably around her waist.

"So… what now?" Troy asked when they were in the car.

Gabriella was silent for a moment. "No one's at your house right now right?" she asked after a moment, biting her lip nervously.

"No…" Troy replied, wondering why she was asking.

Gabby gave a light sigh. "Let's go then." She said quietly, giving him a smile. She wondered if he knew what she was thinking about. Apparently not, since he looked a little confused.

"Okay." Troy decided not to question her. He thought going home to just relax sounded fine.

They drove all to Troy's quietly. Gabriella was still thinking about the lunch. She thought it had gone perfectly, and figured Troy thought the same since he seemed…content. She watched out of the corner of her eye while he turned on the radio and started mouthing the words of the song coming through the speaker. She let out an accidental laugh.

"What? Troy looked over at her.

Gabby stopped laughing. "Nothing." She said, keeping a grin on her face.

"You're a terrible liar, what is it?" he asked, really wanting to know. He looked away from her for a moment to pull into the driveway.

Gabriella gave in. "You know, if you want to sing along go ahead, I won't make fun of you." She informed him with another laugh before getting out of the car.

Troy tried to figure that out while he followed her, finally realizing that she had been watching him. "Well maybe I still wanted to listen to the song." He told her while he opened the door.

Gabriella laughed again, stepping into the front hall with him. "That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard." She told him. She bent down to untie her sandals and when she looked up, Troy was standing there staring at her, a smile on his face. "What?" she asked.

"I've been wanting to do this for pretty much the whole day." He said, not even giving her time to think before kissing her.

"You know," Gabby muttered when she felt him press her up against the wall. "I was kind of thinking…" it was difficult to get her words out through kisses. Finally she put her hand on his shoulders and pushed him away a little. "We could take this upstairs." She finished, staring straight into his eyes.

Troy couldn't argue that. "Okay." He smiled, pulling away and grabbing her hand. Gabriella let Troy pull her up the big stairs, lost in thought. They went into his room, and he dropped her hand, going to close the door, just in case.

Before Troy could even say or do anything, Gabriella stepped towards him and gave him a passionate kiss. When she pulled away he looked slightly astonished.

"What was that for?" he asked with a smile, looking a little surprised.

"I love your family." She whispered, smiling. "Actually, mostly you, but your family too."

Troy looked like he was about to say something, but instead, decided to return her kiss. "Even Jimmy and Natalie?" he asked after a while.

Gabriella giggled. "Yes. Even Jimmy and Natalie." She whispered against his lips.

"You're amazing." He muttered back, kissing her again.

Things got more and more intense. They were alone in the house, and they both knew that. Gabriella knew that. In that moment, she also knew that she was ready for this. This is what she wanted.

They slowly moved towards Troy's bed, and ended up on it like they had so many times before. Gabriella reached up and carefully started unbuttoning his shirt. He was kissing her neck, a hand slowly traveling up her thigh. They'd been here before, and they had both always been fine with that.

Suddenly Gabby was taking his shirt off, going with the feeling she had. The bottom of her dress was up around her waist, not covering much anymore.

"Troy…" she whispered, letting her hands drift from his shoulders, down his bare chest to the top of his jeans.

"Mhm?" he paused and shifted his blue eyes to focus on hers.

Gabby brought one of her hands up, running it through his floppy hair. "I want this." She whispered seriously, figuring he would know what she meant.

"Are you sure?" he asked, needing to know for sure that she was okay with this.

She caught her breath. "Never been more sure." She told him. She could feel his chest expanding with every deep breath he took.

"Okay." He leaned down to kiss her again, not wanting to break the moment they were caught in.

Not long after, the rest of their clothes lay at the end of the bed or on the floor. Troy and Gabriella shared their first time together, caught in their own little world.


	33. Heatwave

**Hey sorry guys this one isn't very long but I'll get another up later.****  
**

**Chapter 33: Heatwave**

"I'm dying," Sharpay said dramatically from her pool chair, fanning herself with her hand. "The heat is killing me." She finished before lying back again.

"Tell me why we're out here again?" Kelsi asked doubtfully from one of the other pool chairs. "When we're being warned to stay inside because of a heatwave." She added a little louder, makin her point clear.

Taylor simply shrugged. "Because we're getting tans." She informed her friend.

"And the guys wanted to go swimming." Gabby added, giving the real reason for them sitting by the pool.

"This is not good." Sharpay whined. "I'm beginning to think that sacrificing my hair, when it looks so perfect, is worth going swimming." She pouted. "Its just so hot."

"What's she on about now?" Chad asked. He had just gotten out of the pool to come and get a drink. He instantly wished he hadn't said that. "Wait, I don't want to know." He said.

"For your information, we're boiling out here." Sharpay told him.

Maybe you should go swimming then." Chad suggested. He was about to sit down on Taylor's chair when she stopped him.

"I don't think so." She told her boyfriend. "Unless you sit at the end, you aren't sitting down." She told him.

"Why not?" Chad asked.

"Because I don't want to get wet." Taylor shrugged, lying back to relax again. That was when a smirk came to Chad's face and he bent over, his hair dripping water all over her. With a shriek from Taylor he picked her up and was carrying her over to the pool. "Chad! Stop, put me down right now!" she tried to get out of his arms, but failed. "Cha…."

The rest of her words were covered by a splash. Gabriella was about to laugh when she saw that Troy was coming towards her, dripping wet like Chad was.

"Oh no, not you too." Gabby warned him.

"Oh yes." Troy laughed.

Gabriella held up her book. "Actually you might want to rethink that," she told him. "because this is one of my favorite books, and if you get it wet and it gets ruined I might have to hurt you." She warned.

"Gabby, every book is your favorite book." He pointed out.

"True, but today it's this one." Gabriella replied with a smirk.

Troy looked thoughtful for a minute before smiling in a mischievous way. "Okay, I wont touch your book." He said before picking her up bridal style.

"Troy!" Gabby was surprised that he had actually picked her up. "I'm being serious! She told him.

He just shrugged. "You're the one who is going to get it wet if you hang onto it." He told her.

Gabriella scowled. "I hate you." She said, and tossed her book on the chair.

Troy laughed. "I hate you too." He replied.

Gabby couldn't help but smile. "Fine, I give up." She sighed. "I wont even put up a fight." She told him. "I'm too hot to care."

"You sure are…" Troy muttered, getting a little hit on the chest from her.

Meanwhile, Taylor was yelling at Chad for throwing her in, and Kelsi was putting up quite the fight, wresting by the edge of the pool with Jason. Finally Chad escaped from Taylor and helped Jason to get Kelsi into the water. After Gabby had given up, all Troy had to do was jump in.

"Ha! I'm the only one that didn't get wet." Sharpay shook her head, standing by the edge of the pool and looking down at her friends. "Girls, next time remember to stay on guard." She told her friends.

"I think you should watch out, Shar…" Gabriella warned her.

"Why?" the blonde asked.

"Because your brother might be standing behind you." Sharpay heard. Before she could react or turn around, Ryan had gone for it and pushed her into the water.

Everyone watched while Sharpay came spluttering to the surface. "Ryan Evans you are so getting it!" she yelled at her twin.

Ryan simply shrugged before deciding to join everyone in the pool and leaping off the edge.


	34. Getaway From The Heat Part I

**Here's a new chapter. Sorry if it's not the greatest.**

**Hope you like it anyways though!**

**Chapter 34: Getaway From The Heat Part I**

Troy was sneaking into his house.

After lazing around the pool for hours the day before, the nine of them had all agreed that it was time to go inside. They found out that Kelsi had in fact been right about the warnings to stay indoors. So instead, they had opted to watch movies, something that every single one of them could agree on. Later that night Troy drove Gabriella home, and found out there, that her mom wouldn't be coming home that night. She ended up luring him in for the whole night.

So the next morning, Troy left early, hoping that his dad would be asleep still and wouldn't notice that he had been gone. He crept as quietly as he could through the front door, and was just turning to go up the stairs, when he looked up he saw his cousin Natalie sitting on the steps. She was looking at him with a bored expression, her chin resting on her hand. Troy noticed that the pajamas she was wearing consisted of a pair of shorts and a shirt that was unmistakably his.

"You're so busted." Natalie shook her head at him.

"What are you even doing here?" Troy shot back in a whisper. His family was supposed to have left the day before. He had already said goodbye to them. "And why are you wearing my shirt?"

"Because I couldn't find mine, and I was too tired to look." She gave a stupid excuse, paired with an eye roll. Troy just gave and annoyed sigh. "Your dad should be calling you in five, four, three, two…." She started counting down.

"Troy?" Jack Bolton's voice echoed from the kitchen.

Natalie smirked. "There you go." She looked like she was going to laugh but got up instead.

This was one of those times when he couldn't stand Natalie. "Thank you." Troy replied sarcastically. Then he turned and headed for the kitchen, mentally preparing for what his dad was going to say. "Yeah dad?" he said from the doorway.

"Where have you been?" Jack Bolton asked, putting the hot mug of coffee he had in his hand down on the kitchen table.

"Uh…nowhere." Troy said at first. "Out." He tried when his dad didn't say anything.

"Do I need to guess where?" his dad asked. "Because I think I would get it right on." He added. Troy stayed by the door knowing instantly that this was one of those conversations he tended to have with his dad that he always wished he could escape. "Gabriella's, am I right?" Jack went on. He watched his son give up and nod. He sighed to himself. "Come sit down Troy."

Troy knew that as much as he wanted to stay in the doorway, he had to go and sit down with his dad. "Go ahead." He mumbled from across the table.

His dad sighed again. "Alright, I'm not going to pretend that I don't know what is going on between the two of you. I don't necessarily like it, but I know that I'm not going to stop it, and well I was once your age, so, you know."

Troy looked slightly disgusted. "I don't really think I needed to know, actually"

His dad said nothing to that. "You're at least….being safe right?" he asked awkwardly.

Troy groaned, "Dad please!"

"Just answer and you can forget all about this conversation if you want. His dad told him seriously.

"Yes." He muttered finally.

Jack sighed. "Okay good."

"Is that all?" Troy asked eagerly, wanting to get upstairs to his room, away from his dad.

"Yes, you can go." His dad told him. "But if this happens again, you wont get off as easy." He warned. "Oh, and whenever she is over here from now on, your bedroom door stays wide open."

"Fine." Troy sighed. He got up from the table and was on his way out when he stopped and turned to look at his dad again. "Oh, just wondering…why is Natalie here?" he asked his dad, still confused from seeing her.

"She's staying for a while." His dad told him, picking up his coffee again.

"Wonderful." Troy muttered, turning again to leave.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella was waiting for a bunch of food to be made. Usually it was a boring process, but today she was busy watching someone. Sure, maybe it was a little much, but she was trying to figure Tristan out. What was his story?

It occurred to her that she had never actually found out. It was as if his mysterious past was just some shell he wore to keep people away. But when Troy's mom had been in the restaurant the other day, it had sparked Gabriella's interest. Now she felt like she had to know, and today she was going to find out.

She quickly broke her stare when she saw Tristan coming over. She figured he would just walk past, but instead he came right up to her.

"Is there something interesting about me today?" he asked in his usual tone.

"I'm not even going to bother." Gabby shrugged, annoyed. "Do you know how frustrating it is to try to have a conversation with you? I mean, you barely talk at all, and when you do, it's only to say something that I should really get mad at you for saying."

"Then ignore me." Tristan shrugged. "I don't ask for you to reply or anything, you just do it out of politeness." He told her.

Gabriella decided to go for it and ask him what she really wanted to know. She was sick of not knowing. "What happened to you? Why were you away?" she suddenly blurted out.

"Why do you care?" Tristan replied.

Gabriella looked at him seriously. "Do you remember that day when you took me to the park and you asked me to tell you everything that had happened with Ben and Troy?" She asked, watching him nod. "Well, that day, I knew nothing about you, but I told you everything you wanted to know." Her voice was getting louder. "And know I'm realizing that I know absolutely nothing about you and I hate that!"

Tristan stared at her for a moment before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out the back door, to where they could stand outside, alone. "You really don't want to know." He told her seriously.

Gabby shrugged. "I've dealt with twisted secrets before." She told him.

"Fine." He sighed. She seemed to have trapped him, which she was glad about. He leaned against the back wall of the restaurant. "I was in a car accident." He told her simply.

"A car accident?" Gabriella had a feeling there was more to this.

"See there's a reason I don't talk about it." He muttered. "People tend to have the same reaction before I can even say anything else."

"I'm listening." Gabby told him. She saw that the normal Tristan that she saw everyday seemed to be melting away.

He took a deep breath before going on. "It was bad." He told her. "My older sister was driving." He looked down. "I don't really remember what happened, except that some car hit us and we went flying off of the road." He took another deep breath. "She died right away, and I almost did too." He told her. Gabriella opened her mouth but had nothing to say to that. Luckily, Tristan went on. "I was in the hospital for a long time, so that's where I'm back from."

"Seriously…" Gabriella couldn't believe this.

"Yeah." Tristan nodded. "I'm not kidding around here, look at this." He lifted his shirt a little and Gabriella saw a long scar stretching across his stomach. "There was a piece of glass…" he started explaining.

"No, I believe you." Gabby told him, and watched him lower his shirt silently. "Um, I'm just…." She wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry I forced you to tell me." She told him, feeling terrible.

Tristan seemed to sense her discomfort. "Yeah well, now you know." he told her. "Just please, don't tell anyone."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later, Gabriella left the cool restaurant and went out into the heat. It was almost unbearable, people seemed to just be going from one air-conditioned place to another. Today, Gabriella was heading for Taylor's house, where everyone was gathering today. It was weird how they had predicted at the beginning of the summer that they would barely spend any time together. But now it seemed like the only person they didn't spend time with was Zeke, who was obviously away.

Gabby drove to Taylor's alone, since she had worked for a few more hours then Taylor had. She'd been alone for a while now, since Tristan had also left not long after their conversation.

Gabby knew one thing. She had to talk to someone about this. But she also couldn't tell anyone Tristan's story. So what was she to do?

"Hey, come on in, Kelsi, Ryan and Sharpay are already here." Taylor said happily when she opened the door for Gabriella.

"Great." Gabby stepped in, too lost in thought to be her normal self.

Taylor seemed a little confused at her friend's weird mood, but led her to where the rest of them were already hanging out. "Gabby's here." She told them excitedly.

"Hey guys." Gabriella flopped down on the couch, leaning against the arm.

"What's with you?" Kelsi asked, noticing the same thing Taylor had.

"Me?" Gabriella asked. "Oh...nothing." she told them.

Her friends were instantly suspicious. They had learnt that whenever Gabriella said it was nothing, it was always something. "Is something going on with you and Troy?" Sharpay said the first thing she thought of.

Gabby shook her head right away. "No, don't worry, we're fine." She assured them.

"Okay then, what…" Taylor started, but the doorbell cut her off. She went out of the room quickly, and when she came all three of the other guys. Apparently they had come together from the camp.

"Hey you." Troy leaned in and whispered to Gabriella when he sat down beside her.

"Hey." She replied distantly, giving him a weak smile. Troy knew something wasn't right a second after.

But before he could ask her what was up, Sharpay stood up to get everyone's attention. "Okay everyone listen up!" she told them all loudly. Ryan covered his ears a bit since he was right beside her.

"Shar, we're right here, you can speak a little quieter." Kelsi told her carefully.

"Oh…sorry!" Sharpay gave a little laugh. "Anyways, I don't know about you guys, but this heat wave is killing me, and I personally want to get away from it all." She informed them. "So Ryan and I talked to daddy, and he told us we could bring everyone to our summer house." She said happily. "Just you know, for a little break and to get away from the heat." She said.

The entire group seemed to think about it for a moment before replying one by one. "Sounds great." Jason started.

"Yeah, it's by the lake right?" Chad asked, getting nods from Sharpay and Ryan. "Sweet." he smiled

"We have a week off anyways." Jason added.

"I'm sure my parents would give Gabby and I some time off too." Taylor told them.

Kelsi shrugged. "I'm in." She said simply.

"Me too." Gabriella smiled when she thought about getting away.

"I think I need to get away from my family a bit." Troy said finally, remembering the conversation with his dad that morning, and his younger cousin staying behind.

"Great!" Sharpay said excitedly. "This is going to be great!"

&&&&

**Let me know what you think, and thanks for your reviews so far, they're amazing and so appreciated**


	35. Getaway From The Heat Part II

**Okay, sorry I haven't gotten anything up in the past few days. I was planning on getting a few chapters up today but I had to go to the doctors...blah. I've been sick, and my laptop was broken down so overall it hasn't been the greatest week.**

**So yeah, I'll get more up tomorrow, this is kind of fillerish, but I hope you like it anyways.**

**Chapter 35: Getaway From The Heat Part II**

"Do you have your toothbrush?" Natalie asked from where she was sitting on Troy's bed.

"Yes." Troy muttered. She had been doing this for the past fifteen minutes and it was beginning to drive him nuts.

"Bathing suit?" she went on.

"Yep."

"Um…" Natalie was beginning to run out of items. "Sunscreen?" she asked.

"Yes." Troy replied. "And you just reminded me to pack some Advil in case I get a headache." He added, annoyance in his voice.

"Good idea." Natalie replied happily. She was having so much fun bugging him. Before she could say anything else the doorbell rang all through the house. "The doorbell just rang." She informed Troy, as if he needed to know.

"Thanks for letting me know." he replied sarcastically. He bent down to zip up his bag, but it was so full that he was having troubles doing that.

"I guess I'll go get it then." Natalie rolled her eyes, impatient with her cousin's slow progress.

"Great…" Troy muttered. He finally got his bag done up and swung it onto his shoulder, quickly scanning over his room to see if he missed anything while packing. Then he rushed downstairs since he knew it would be Gabriella, and that Natalie wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut.

"Well look who it is." Gabriella smiled when she Troy rush down the stairs. "Are you ready?" she gave a little laugh. She could tell just by the look of him that he was a little flustered.

"Yep." Troy replied.

"He totally slept in and packed everything in like the past half hour." Natalie suddenly burst out, but slapped a hand across her mouth right away.

"I can completely see that happening." Gabby said honestly, laughing at what the younger girl had said.

"Hey you're supposed to be on my side." Troy told her.

"Aw come on admit it, that is such a you thing to do." She laughed again.

Troy decided not to argue that considering that obviously he wasn't going to win this, not with Gabriella and Natalie paired up. Also, this was the first time that he had actually seen Gabriella laugh in the past few days. She had been a weird mood, but so far every time he had asked lightly what was up, she completely changed the subject. "Fine. He replied. "Let's just go then." He smiled at her.

"Good." Gabby smiled back. She led Troy out of his house and down the driveway where Chad's car was waiting. The two of them were heading to the Evan's with Taylor and Chad, and the other four of them were going in another car. "You're in the front with Chad." She told him after he threw his bag in the back.

"Alright, we've got everyone!" Chad said happily when they were all in.

"Chad, just drive!" Taylor told him from the backseat.

"Okay, okay…." He pulled away from Troy's house. "Even from the backseat she bosses me around." He muttered sarcastically. Only Troy fully heard and couldn't help but let out a laugh. Fortunately, both girls were already too absorbed in some other conversation to hear.

Four hours, two rest stops, a few wrong turns and countless little arguments between the four, they finally found the road that the Evan's house was supposed to be on. Now they were searching for the house in the fading light.

"I think this is it!" Gabriella called it out first. As Chad drove closer to the house she began to doubt herself. "It can't be." She muttered, looking up at it.

"Aren't summer homes, cabins, cottages, whatever supposed to be smaller?" Taylor asked as the four of them got out of the car.

"I guess not if you're part of the Evans family." Chad shrugged.

Suddenly the front door of the big white house flew open and Sharpay came running out. "You guys made it!" she said excitedly. "We were beginning to get worried that you got lost or something." She told them.

"We did." Taylor replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, because Chad kept taking wrong turns." Troy added, somewhat grumpily.

"You were the one with the map man." Chad shrugged.

Troy glared at him. "I know Chad, you never listened to my directions." He pointed out.

No one was quite sure what to say to that. "Someone's grumpy…" Sharpay mumbled after a moment.

"I'm not grumpy." Troy told her.

Gabriella tried to hold back her laugh and eye roll. "Don't mind him, he hasn't eaten in hours." She made an excuse for her boyfriend.

"Oh." Sharpay gave a little laugh. "Well luckily we're having dinner in a few minutes. So you made it just in time."

"Perfect." Troy muttered.

They quickly unloaded the car and went inside, where Sharpay gave them a quick tour. It ended up not being so quick, as the house was huge. Finally they all made it to their rooms and dinner. After dinner they all sat in the living room, with the glass doors that looked out onto the lake wide open. It was a beautiful night out there.

"Feeling better?" Gabriella gave a little laugh when she sat down next to Troy.

"Yeah." He smiled. The truth was, he felt ten times better then he had when they had first arrived at the Evans house.

"Good." Gabby smiled. She was about to say something else when her phone beeped from her pocket. She immediately took it out and turned away a little before typing away on it.

"What is it?" Troy was curious. This had happened a few times during the day.

Gabriella tore herself away for a moment. "Oh, it just…." She began to explain, before the doorbell rang all throughout the large house. The eight of them all looked curious right away.

"Who could that possibly be? It's pretty late." Ryan asked first, while checking his watch.

"Beats me." Sharpay just shrugged and decided to go for it, leaving the room to answer the door. The rest of them went back to the conversation they had been having, until they were interrupted again, this time by a loud scream that could have only come from Sharpay.

"You guys!" she yelled "Get down here right now!" she ordered. Everyone shared a curious glance before getting up and all going to the front entrance, where Sharpay had called them. "Look who's here!" she shrieked excitedly. No one had expected this at all. The source of Sharpay's excitement was because Zeke was standing in the doorway, a big pack by his feet. "It's Zeke!" she said happily, as if any of them needed her to explain.


	36. Fresh Air

**Okay here we go, finally! I'm so sorry for the wait.**

**Chapter 36: Fresh Air**

"I'm so tired." Gabriella sighed and leaned into Troy while they walked to their room. It was practically the middle of the night. Since Zeke had arrived, they had all been talking for hours, hearing about practically everything he did on his trip. Gabby had loved it, but now she was feeling just how late it was.

"Me too. Taylor agreed with her friend. Her and Chad were walking a few steps in front of the two.

"I'd carry you but I'm too tired." Chad told Taylor apologetically, trying to rub the tiredness from his eyes.

Taylor gave a little laugh. "Hey good idea." She said. Suddenly she stopped and let him walk ahead a little bit, before jumping onto his back. Since Chad was so tired and hadn't expected her on him at all, the two of them both ended up falling to the floor.

Troy and Gabriella stopped and watch while, instead of either Taylor or Chad getting upset about being tangled up on the floor, they both just started laughing hysterically. They were too tired to care anymore.

"Think we should help them?" Gabby asked Troy quietly, watching her friends try to help each other up.

Troy laughed and shook his head. "I'm scared to." He admitted.

"You guys okay?" Gabriella laughed as she stood over her two friends.

Taylor pulled herself off of Chad and held out a hand for her boyfriend. "Yeah, I'm good." She laughed. "I landed on Chad." She shrugged.

"Yeah, and I landed on the floor." Chad groaned as he got up. "The hard tile floor." He added.

"Aw poor baby." Troy teased.

Chad glared at him. "I'm too tired, and now sore, to get you for that." He said. "Remind me in the morning."

"Uh…sure." Troy smiled when he saw Gabriella laughing and shaking her head. "What's so funny?" He laughed a little when she leaned on the wall for support, bending forward a bit and holding her stomach. She couldn't even answer his question.

"Clearly you've never seen Gabriella when she gets overtired." Taylor rolled her eyes.

"What?" both guys looked confused.

Taylor shrugged. "She starts laughing for no apparent reason, and at even the slightest thing." She informed them. Then she grabbed Chad's arm and started leading him away. "Good luck." She told Troy.

Meanwhile, Gabriella was calming down a bit and stood up. "Sorry." She took a deep breath, trying to hold it back, which was clearly difficult. "Nothing is even funny."

"Gabriella Montez, I learn something new about you everyday." Troy shook his head, a smile on his face.

Gabby took another deep breath to stop laughing all together. She looked at him for a moment before tiredly stepping forward. "Let's just go to bed."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning, Troy walked into the big bedroom, tossing a water bottle onto the couch on the far side and glancing over at the bed. Gabriella was still sleeping, her hair sprawled out on the pillow under her head. He smiled at how cute she looked when she was sleeping. But when he had returned to the house a few minutes ago, he had seen that almost everyone was up. So it was time to wake Gabriella up.

He went over to the side of the bed she was on, and leaned over, giving her a soft kiss. After a short moment Gabby's eyes fluttered open. "Good morning." He smiled to her.

Gabriella smiled and was about to pull him in for more when she noticed his state. "Ew gross, you're all sweaty." She wrinkled her nose and tried to squirm away.

"Yeah well that's what happens when I go for a run in the heat." Troy just laughed and stayed directly above her, not letting her get away. When she finally gave up, he leaned down, getting closer.

"Ahem." Someone cleared their throat from the door.

Troy looked over his shoulder and saw Sharpay, Kelsi, Ryan, Jason and Taylor standing in the open doorway. "Hey." Was all he could think of to say to them.

"Way to leave the door wide open dude." Jason laughed lightly and shook his head. Taylor rolled her eyes and the other three simply looked amused.

Meanwhile, Gabriella had begun to laugh hysterically. "Troy get off me." She smirked when he looked back down at her.

"I need to shower anyways." He shrugged, letting her push him away.

"Yeah, you really do." Gabby told him. When he was on his way to the bathroom, she looked at her friends. "Do you guys mind?" she asked. She wanted to get out of bed but didn't feel like all of them watching while she walked around the room in her short shorts and too small tank top.

"Oh, sorry." Sharpay laughed. "But meet us out here." She told her.

"Why?" Gabby asked, twirling a bit of her messy hair around her finger.

"We want to show you something." Taylor smiled.

Gabriella didn't bother asking. "Okay." She sighed. "I'll be there in a minute." She told them. She watched the five of them shuffle away. Taylor was the last to leave, closing the doors for Gabriella.

She shook her head, and slipped out of bed, hearing the water from the shower starting to run from behind the closed door of the bathroom. She quickly changed out of her pajamas, brushed her hair, put on her usual tiny bit of makeup, and checked her phone, quickly typing away at it before putting it back away. Then she went out to see what was going on.

She walked along the huge hall and saw where the group was gathered. Taylor gestured for her to come over, but put a finger over her mouth, telling her to keep quiet. "What is it?" she whispered when she got to them.

"Follow us." Taylor whispered back.

Wordlessly, Gabriella followed them, wondering what could possibly be so interesting. They stopped at the doorway to the living room and peeked in. Gabriella could clearly see Zeke, sitting silently in the middle of the sunny room, his eyes closed.

"What is he doing?" she whispered.

Sharpay shrugged. "We think he's meditating." She told her. "Remember, he told us about it last night?" she asked. Gabriella nodded is response.

They stood there for a while, though Gabriella didn't see the point since Zeke was simply sitting there. After a few minutes, she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist. "This better?" Troy whispered in her ear.

Gabby leaned into him and breathed in the smell she had gotten used to. It was like fresh air to her, with a mix of apples, coffee and pine trees. "Mm…yeah. Much better." She whispered back, turning to face him.

The five of their friends turned around, looking at the couple angrily. "Sh!" Kelsi said quietly.

Troy gave Gabriella a curious glance and she just shrugged. "What's Zeke doing?" He whispered when he saw his friend. Gabriella was about to open her mouth to reply when the silence was completely broken.

"Hey guys what's up?" Chad said, in his usual, loud, excited voice.

"Chad!" Sharpay groaned.

"What?" He asked, completely confused. Half of his friends were glaring at him.

No one wanted to explain what was going on, since Zeke was now fully aware that they were all there. "Hey guys, anyone hungry?" he asked. "I made banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast." He told them.

Chad smiled. "I knew there was a reason I missed you." He put a friendly arm around Zeke's shoulders. "I'm starving." He said.

"Me too." Troy spoke up, suddenly realizing his hunger.

Gabriella gave him a weird look. "Did your stomach just growl?" she asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah…" Troy admitted.

Gabby seemed to melt. "Aw that's so cute!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms back around him. She stayed like that while they all walked into the kitchen, which was next door.

"Oh please." Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Can you two separate yourselves while we eat breakfast please?" she asked. "I'd like to keep my muffin down."

While Gabriella laughed and pulled away from Troy, Zeke seemed to study the pair. "So I see you two are still going strong." He said happily.

"Yep." Troy replied with a smile, grabbing a muffin from the huge basket full.

"Good." Zeke seemed content.

Kelsi let out a laugh. "Going strong is quite the understatement." She informed Zeke.

"Yeah I would try…inseparable." Ryan suggested.

"Or annoyingly cute." Sharpay added.

"Hoow abopth compfletlee un lubb?" Chad pitched in, his mouth completely full of muffin.

"Uh, what was that?" Jason asked.

Chad chewed and swallowed before repeating himself. "How about completely in love?"

"Thank you Chad!" Taylor exclaimed, nodding along with his suggestion, which was the most correct out of the bunch.

"Um, hello?" Gabriella cut in. "We're right here." She reminded them all. Troy was too busy acting like his best friend and stuffing down a muffin to say anything.

"You know we're right." Taylor told her best friend.

The kitchen was silent while everyone waited for a reply. Gabriella looked to Troy and smiled. "Yeah I know." she replied, before grabbing a muffin of her own.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

After breakfast, the group discovered just how huge Ryan and Sharpay's summer house was. They hadn't seen everything outside when they had arrived, since it had gotten dark quickly. But in the daylight, everything was shown.

The house was perched on a hill, which lead right down to the lake's shore. There was a beautiful stone staircase winding down the hill, starting from the large patio outside the house. Halfway down the hill there was a terrace, with chairs sitting in a semi circle, facing the lake. At the bottom of the stairs, the ground turned into soft sand, part of the small, private beach. There was a dock not too far away, with a few different boats tied up in different places.

Just looking at it made everyone excited. They wanted to do everything. So after putting on their bathing suits and sunscreen, they made their way down, first to the beach.

After relaxing for a while, they played a game of volleyball, which the girls surprisingly won. Then they went swimming, and did whatever they wanted. It was the perfect day.

When the sun went down, they wondered what they could do, until Jason suggested they have a campfire. Everyone agreed with that and they got to work building one, right on the sand, by the dark water. Soon the nine of them were sitting around it, all cozy in blankets and such. After the sun had gone down, the air had gotten cool.

"Look we found some!" Ryan said happily, throwing a pack of marshmallows onto one of the tables. Him and Chad had been sent up to the house to search for some.

"Yeah and some sticks to roast them on." Chad added, leaning a bunch against the same table.

"Perfect." Kelsi told them.

"Come sit guys." Taylor motioned to the large amount of free space on either side of her. She was sitting on a bench they had brought down to the beach.

"This is nice." Ryan sighed happily when he sat down.

"I'm coming." Chad told her, starting to make his way over. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Chad said as he passed where Troy and Gabriella were sitting. He leaned over a little and gave Troy a punch on the arm.

"Hey what was that for?" Troy sat up straight, looking at his friend like he was crazy.

"I said I'd get you back for what you said last night." Chad shrugged, plopping down on the bench.

Troy rolled his eyes, and leaned back again. "I didn't think you were actually being serious." He said.

"Why would you ever think that?" Chad asked. "I'm always serious." He said. The entire group sat in a slightly stunned silence. Then suddenly Taylor burst into laughter. "What?" he asked in surprise.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Taylor shook her head lightly.

Chad continued to argue with her, wanting to know what it was that she found so funny, while Zeke leaned back in his chair and looked up at the sky for a moment. "You have no idea how good it is to see all of you guys again." He said quietly.

Sharpay smiled. "Yeah…this is nice." She looked around the group. It was true, everyone looked completely content. On the bench, Taylor and Ryan were now laughing hysterically at something. Chad looked confused, but started laughing along a moment later after Taylor explained. On one side of them, Kelsi and Jason were both leaning back, looking up at the clear sky and pointing out stars to each other. On the other side, Gabriella sat in a chair, with Troy sitting in front of her on the sand, leaning against her legs. She had her hands on his shoulders, and would lean forward once and a while to whisper something in to his ear. Sometimes Troy would laugh, other times he would smile and whisper something back.

Finally, Sharpay looked over at Zeke, who seemed to just love being back here. She realized in that moment just how much she had missed him while he was gone. So she slipped off of her own chair and went over to sit on his lap, giving him a little kiss and settling in.

&&&&

**Okay, so I love writing the cute stuff...but there is probably going to be some trouble coming soon. Just to warn you :P**

**Thanks for the reviews and sorry for taking so long to get this one up. Now that summer is here I'll have more time to update.**


	37. A Little Too Curious

**Chapter 37: A Little Too Curious**

A few mornings later, Gabriella was sitting on the bed, waiting for Troy to come back from the kitchen. They had snuck out for an early morning swim, just the two of them. It had been freezing cold, but Gabriella had promised Troy she would go before the week was up, and they were only there for about two more days. Troy had left a few minutes before to grab a few of Zeke's muffins for them.

Gabriella happily twisted a chunk of her still wet hair around her finger, and re-adjusted the towel she had placed around her shoulders so that her dripping hair wouldn't get her shirt wet. Her phone suddenly beeped, signaling to her that she had a message. So, she leaned over and picked it up, instantly beginning to read the screen.

She was replying to the message when the bedroom door opened and Troy came back in. He shut the door behind him. "Hey you." Gabby smiled, pausing from typing away at her phone, and looking up at him.

"What is it with you and that phone?" Troy asked curiously as he approached. He had seen her with it several times over the week, and knew that she wasn't usually that obsessive. Gabriella noticed that he had a plate with two muffins on it, as well as a small stack of napkins, and two bottles of orange juice.

She seemed caught for a moment, before putting her phone back down on the bedside table. "It's nothing." She smiled. "Don't worry about it." She assured him, watching him sit down on the bed. "This looks good." She commented happily when he handed her a bottle of juice.

"Anything for my Gabby." Troy joked, purposely sounding cheesy.

Gabriella laughed. "Dork." She shot back jokingly. Troy did a fake gasp.

"I am not a dork!" He told her.

Gabriella smirked. "Oh yes you are. I love it." She told him. "I'll be back." She added, pushing herself up from the bed. She headed towards the bathroom.

"Okay." Troy replied right before the bathroom door closed. His eyes happened to fall on Gabriella's cell phone, sitting on the table right beside the bed. He knew she had told him not to worry about it, but he just couldn't push the curiosity from his mind. It was beginning to bug him.

Since Gabriella was fully in the bathroom, Troy quietly leaned over and picked up her phone. He new he shouldn't have to know, or even care who she was constantly messaging, but he felt a need to know. He was surprised when he scrolled through and saw that most of the recent messages were to or from Tristan. There were a few from other friends too.nHe clicked on the last message received from Tristan, feeling his curiosity growing more at each moment.

"Troy?" He suddenly heard and looked up fearfully before he could read a word. Sure enough, Gabriella was standing just outside the bathroom door, looking at him curiously. "Is that my phone?" she asked.

She was waiting for an answer, not sure what to say. There was no point in trying to cover it up now. "There are a lot of messages from Tristan in here…" Troy started carefully.

"Um…yeah." Gabby replied.

"Why?" Troy asked.

Gabriella looked at him. "Why does it matter?"

"I'm just a little concerned, that's all." Troy told her truthfully.

"Why?" Gabriella asked. She waited for an answer but grew impatient when he didn't give her one. "Because you don't like him and think he's a jerk?"

Troy sighed in frustration. "Well maybe…" he told her. "Or maybe because I don't get what's going on between you two."

"There's nothing going on!" Gabriella argued, slightly stunned by his accusation.

She was now standing a few feet away. "Whatever." Troy said stubbornly.

Gabby couldn't believe this. "Why are you getting mad?" she asked all of a sudden. "I'm the one who should be mad, I just caught you going through my phone!" she suddenly realized how strange that was. She wouldn't have expected Troy do ever do something like that.

He just looked at her. "You think that's the bigger problem here?" He asked. "Wouldn't you get suspicious if I was acting all weird and telling you it was nothing, then you figured out I was secretly talking to some other girl?"

"That's not the same thing." Gabriella shook her head.

"Seems pretty similar to me. Troy shot back.

Gabriella was silent for a moment, before sighing and sitting down on the bed beside him, figuring she should explain a little bit. It might help to clear things up. "Look, Tristan told me something about his past, that was kind of…intense." She told Troy. "I'm just trying to be a good friend."

"What was it?" Troy asked curiously.

Gabriella remembered how she promised Tristan that she wouldn't tell anyone what he had told her. "I can't tell you." She said uneasily.

"You can't tell me?" Troy repeated in disbelief.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I promised I wouldn't"

Troy looked at her. "Aren't you supposed to be able to tell me anything?" he asked, sounding annoyed. "Isn't that some rule of dating or whatever?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Yeah." She nodded. "But I just…"

"Gabby, I think you're getting in too deep with this." Troy told her. He could tell that whatever it was, had truly taken over her mind.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

"Well you barely know the guy!" Troy's voice rose a little.

Gabriella looked at him angrily. "Yeah well I didn't know you before I got up on stage with you!" she shot back coldly.

Troy was about to argue that the New Years party was completely different from this situation, when the door flew open. "Gabby, get ready as fast as you can, we're going shopping!" Sharpay exclaimed loudly. She stopped in her tracks and looked between Troy and Gabriella, who were both clearly angry. Behind her, Taylor and Kelsi were noticing the same thing. "Sorry." She apologized, knowing the three of them had obviously interrupted something when they had barged in.

"We'll just wait for you in the living room." Taylor informed Gabriella, slowly backing out with Sharpay and Kelsi.

Gabby glanced at Troy, fully giving up. "No, I'm ready now." she told her friends, grabbing her purse from the table, and her cell phone right out of Troy's hand. She followed her friends out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye.

Troy winced when the door closed with a slam. He groaned in frustration and flopped down on the bed behind him.

That had not gone well.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sharpay stopped just inside the big mall doors and took a deep breath. "Ah, it's like fresh air." She said happily, before getting odd looks form her friends. "You guys have no idea how good it is to get out of the house." She shook her head.

"I know exactly what you mean." Taylor sighed.

"Same here." Kelsi added.

Gabriella stayed silent, but luckily none of them noticed because Sharpay started talking again. "It's totally and completely amazing to have Zeke back home from his trip, but I think part of him is stuck in some far away country." She explained. "It's beginning to drive me nuts."

Taylor nodded, agreeing. "Ugh, Chad is just always there." She said, venting. "Everywhere I turn. It's like I can't escape."

Kelsi let out a little laugh. "I'm just getting sick of the boys in general." She added. "Which is why I immediately agreed to shopping, no boys to worry about."

The three of them looked to Gabriella, who was still remaining silent. "Gabby?" Taylor waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Are you okay?" she asked.

Gabriella snapped out of it. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said quickly, not sounding like her usual self.

Her friends exchanged a look. "Okay, I didn't want to bring this up before, but what did we interrupt this morning with you and Troy?" Sharpay asked.

"It was nothing." Gabriella lied.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "You guys were totally fighting weren't you?" she knew right away.

"No, we weren't" she denied.

"Well that's what it sounded like." Kelsi told her.

"We weren't fighting." Gabriella insisted, feeling like she was repeating herself. "We were just….sharing our feelings." She said. She knew that sounded stupid, but she didn't feel like sharing every little detail with them yet.

Sharpay raised a finely arched eyebrow. "Isn't that the same thing?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Who cares?"

"Your dear friends who have nothing but concern for you." Taylor informed her.

Gabriella shook her head and looked at her friends. She was lucky to have them care about her so much that they interrogated her about her boyfriend troubles. "You guys, everything is fine." She assured them. She smiled. "I promise."

"Mhm…" Kelsi said noncommittally. "We'll believe it when we see it."

"Fine, but can we just stop talking about this right now?" Gabriella wanted to get off the subject as soon as possible.

"Okay, let's drop it." Taylor agreed, seeing that Gabriella really didn't want to talk about it. She knew she eventually would, because that's just how Gabriella worked.

Sharpay and Kelsi caught on right away and happily switched gears. "Well then, here to we begin girls?" Sharpay asked them, looking around to all of the stores.

"Clothes!" Kelsi said.

"Shoes." Gabby chimed in, a small smile finally coming to her face.

"Makeup!" Taylor added on to the list.

Sharpay laughed. "Okay then, we better get started."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Hours later, the girls had worn out almost every good store in the mall, spent plenty of money, and fully ranted about anything that was on their minds. Gabriella had stayed quiet almost the entire time, but had still taken comfort in the shopping she had done. She wouldn't need to go for months if she didn't want to. But of course she wanted to.

"Well I guess we're done." Taylor sighed, staring around, hoping to find another store to spend time in.

"Is it just me, or are you guys not ready to go back yet?" Sharpay asked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm completely starving." Kelsi said.

"There was a restaurant right across the street." Gabriella put in, remembering when they had gotten there that morning. "Why don't we just go there?" she asked, wanting some food herself. She had a headache from the loudness of the mall, as well as her own friends. Sure she loved them, but it seemed like all they had done today was complain.

"Sounds good to me." Taylor agreed for all of them. They quickly made their way out of the mall, stopping at Sharpay's car to dump their bags. Luckily when they got to the restaurant, it wasn't busy, and they were soon sitting in a comfy booth.

"Perfect." Kelsi sighed happily when she sat down.

Sharpay looked a little disheartened for a moment. "Do you guys thinks its bad at all that all four of us feel the need to get away from the guys after spending like less then a week with them?" she asked.

Kelsi understood right away. "Makes you think…" she sighed.

Taylor didn't seem to agree. "Well when you think about it, no one literally stays in a house for days at a time." She pointed out. "We've all been cooped up together, so even though it's strange that we have to take a break, I think it's alright to." She said.

"Good point Tay." Sharpay changed her mind.

"Plus you've heard me all day, I'm in desperate need of some anti-Chad time." Taylor added with a little pathetic laugh. "Maybe we're just too different to last…" she sighed.

For some reason that pushed Gabriella over the edge she had been balancing ever since she had left the house that morning. She was sick of hearing them complain about things that were so stupid, and easily fixable. "Oh my god, can you guys hear yourselves?" she suddenly burst out.

"What?" Sharpay was shocked at Gabriella's sudden angry tone.

"I've just been listening to the three of you complain all day about the most ridiculous things." She explained. "Taylor, Chad s just Chad. You know that, and I think it would be stupid if you suddenly start thinking that the two of you being different is a problem, because it never was before." She first told Taylor, shocking her with her boldness. "And Shar, Zeke is just excited about his trip, can't you see that? He wants to share it with you, so cant you just pretend to understand?" she said to Sharpay second. "And Kelsi, I don't even know what you're complaining about." She finished, before sighing and leaning back into the booth.

The three of them were staring at her in shock. "Oh my god, is it that bad?" Sharpay asked.

"Is what that bad?" Gabby asked impatiently.

"Your fight with Troy." Taylor cleared up.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Guys, I told you, we are not in a fight." She told them, yet again. They had been trying to get her to open up all day.

"Yeah we stopped believing that the minute you told us." Kelsi sounded serious.

Gabriella realized that there was no way out of this. "Okay fine…" she sighed. "This morning everything was completely perfect." She started. "But then I went into the bathroom for a second and when I got out, Troy's is sitting there going through my phone." She told them.

Sharpay got it right away. "I knew it, he's been suspicious all week." She told the three of them. "I could tell."

"Yeah so could I." Gabriella said. "I guess I was acting weird, but I would never expect Troy to do something so…" she trailed off, unable to explain herself.

"So that's what you guys were fighting about?" Kelsi asked.

"Yeah." Gabby nodded.

"But wait a minute, I'm confused." Taylor said. "I could tell by the looks on both of your faces that it wasn't just about Troy going into your phone." She concluded. "Who have you been messaging all this week?" she asked Gabriella.

Gabby knew what would come when she told them. "Tristan." She admitted.

"Well that explains a lot." Taylor leaned back. "I can see why Troy would be upset about that."

"I know…" Gabriella nodded. "But it's beginning to feel like I'm not allowed to even talk to any other guys or something. It happens with Ben too." She said.

"Hm…" Sharpay was thoughtful.

"Gabby." Taylor looked at her seriously. "I know it seems crazy, but I think I get it." She said. "Troy fought for you, and sure, he got you in the end but he's probably scared of losing you. Don't you remember how close you were to being with Ben?" she reminded Gabriella.

"Yeah." Gabby admitted. "But I'm not going anywhere." She whispered, shaking her head lightly.

Surprisingly, Taylor let out a small smile. She knew the answer to this problem. She could help her best friend out. "Then make sure he knows that."


	38. Unexpected Party

**Hey guys so I was in a big rush to get the last chapter up, so I didn't have the chance to say how sorry I am that it took so long for me to update. **

**Also I wanted to thank you guys for the amazing reviews and such. They're great**

**Anyways, here is the next chapter, which I'm not so sure about...let me know what you think.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 38: Unexpected Party**

"Ah…I'm stuffed." Jason flopped down on a couch, rubbing his stomach.

"Me too." Chad did the same, joining his friend on the large couch.

It had been a strange day for the group of guys. They were half relieved to have a girl free day, but the other half needed and wanted the girls around. Troy had seemed out of it and distracted for most of the day, and after many attempts his friends had gotten him to spill out what was bugging him. After that, they had all agreed to not bring it up again.

Ryan came into the living room from the kitchen, Troy and Zeke following closely behind. "Thanks for helping clean up guys." He said sarcastically to the two guys on the couch. Chad and Jason had managed to escape the massive clean up they had done after eating dinner.

"No problem." Jason replied, getting more comfortable.

Zeke walked closer to one of the front windows and looked out curiously. "Looks like the girls are finally back." He told his friends. He wasn't sure whether to be excited or not.

"Really?" Troy asked and went over to the window to see for sure.

"Yep." Zeke pointed down at the silver car, which was just pulling into the driveway. When it stopped, they watched the driver's door open first. Sharpay hopped out and went to the trunk, where Taylor, Gabriella and Kelsi all joined her. Then they started to unload bags of stuff they had bought. Moments later, they were bringing it all into the house. The guys all remained silent.

"We're home!" Sharpay called from the front door. Her words were followed by footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Hey." Zeke greeted the girls when they filed into the room. "How was your day?" he asked automatically.

Taylor looked at the other girls. "It was pretty good." She smiled. "What did you guys do?" she asked.

"Uh…nothing." Jason replied slightly awkwardly. There really was nothing worth telling. Suddenly there was a strange silence among the group, until the phone started ringing.

"Thank goodness." Ryan muttered under his breath. He reached over and grabbed the phone that was perched on one of the end tables. "Hello?" he said into the receiver. Whoever it was must have said something good because Ryan's face broke into a smile. "It's been forever!" he said excitedly. "Hang on." He covered the speaker with a hand and looked at Sharpay. "It's Brooke." He told her.

"Oh my god really?" Sharpay broke into a huge smile. Ryan nodded happily. "Put her on speaker." Sharpay demanded. The rest of their friends stood there clueless to what was going on.

"Okay." Ryan pressed a button on the phone and put the receiver down. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"Sharpay?" a girl's voice came through.

"Brooke!" Sharpay exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I'm stunning." Brooke replied. "Anyways, I'm calling to ask, why you didn't call and let me know that you were going to be at your summer house for the week?"

Sharpay laughed lightly. "Well Ryan and I have friends here." She replied. "I didn't know if you'd be at your place."

"Yeah, we're here all summer this year." Brooke told her. "Right now the whole gang is here actually. Everyone's parents have dragged them to this party my parents are throwing tonight."

"Oh yeah, mom and dad were so disappointed that they were able to go." Ryan said.

"Well…" Brooke started. "We could use some more young people around here. Plus everyone's missing the Evan's twins. We haven't seen you two in forever." She said. "Why don't you two and all of your friends come over?" she asked.

Sharpay and Ryan looked at each other, and then to their friends, who all shrugged and nodded their heads, letting them know it was okay. "Well sure, that sounds great." Sharpay replied. "We'll just take the boat over."

"Perfect." Brooke said, a tone of happiness coming to her voice. "Well, see you soon then. I've got to go." She added before hanging up.

Sharpay clapped her hands happily like a little kid who just got a brand new toy. "Oh I'm so excited!" she smiled.

Ryan also had a huge smile on his face, but instead of freaking out like his sister, her turned to his friends and decided to explain what was going on. "Our family is friends with a bunch of other families who own summer homes around this lake, and so we have grown up with their kids." He told them. "There are always random dinner parties or lunches or whatever being held, so that's when we all get together." He went on. "Unfortunately though, since our dad has been working so much more, we haven't been around much the past few summers. So it's been a while since we've seen our friends."

"Oh, okay." Taylor nodded. "Well then, we'll all come along, wont we?" She asked her friends.

"I don't ever think there's been a party that I refused to go to." Chad replied.

"Sounds nice." Gabriella said. "We should probably change though, right?" she asked.

Sharpay nodded. "Ooh, we should all wear those summery dresses we bought today." She said excitedly.

Kelsi laughed. "Sounds good." She smiled. "So when should we be ready?" she asked.

Ryan looked up at the clock on the wall. "Everyone meet on the dock in an hour."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy came out of the bathroom and found that the bedroom was empty. He sighed and sat down on the bed, where Gabriella had been sitting moment before, tying up a pair of wedge sandals. She was clearly gone now.

Over the past twenty the minutes, the two of them had moved around each other, neither of them saying a word the whole time. Gabriella had gone straight into the bathroom, shopping bag in hand, and had come out with a pretty dark purple dress on. She had pulled her hair out of her face a bit, though most of it was still hanging around her shoulders.

Troy had gone into the bathroom just as she had sat down to put her shoes on. He hadn't expected her to be gone when he came out. She was though, and he was going to have to find her if her wanted to talk to her and make things right. But it seemed like he had wasted all of his energy thinking about their fight all day, that he did the only thing he could think of doing was just heading down to the dock early.

It was already beginning to get dark outside, so Troy concentrated carefully on the stone steps leading down to the water. When he finally stepped onto the beach and looked up, he was surprised to see that Gabriella was standing on the dock, watching the last bit of sun sink below the trees. It hadn't occurred to him that she might have come down here early. He walked closer to her, figuring now was as good as time as any to talk.

"So are we just going to ignore each other until one of us decides to say something?" he asked. He saw Gabriella jump a little before she turned around to face him. Clearly she hadn't expected anyone to show up.

Gabriella looked at him and bit her lip. "Troy…" she started. She was about to go on, when she saw over his shoulder that the rest of their friends were heading down the steps and would get down here any minute. She immediately changed what she was going to say. "Everyone's coming down, so we'll just have to do this later." She said.

Troy looked over his shoulder and sure enough, everyone was just stepping onto the beach. They all looked just as nice and dressed up as him and Gabriella were. "Okay…" he sighed and looked out at the water.

"It's probably better just to wait anyways." Gabby told him. "Sharpay and Ryan are really excited about this and I don't want to ruin anything for them."

Troy was about to reply to that, but the sound of several footsteps on the dock made him turn his head and look to see everyone coming.

"Ah, we didn't even need a full hour, perfect." Ryan said happily, when he and the rest of the group finally reached where Troy and Gabriella were standing. He went to go get the boat ready to go, and a few of them helped him. Sharpay was happily talking away about how excited she was to see her friends, filling whatever strange silence there had been before.

"Hey, everything okay?" Taylor asked Gabriella quietly. She knew that they had all obviously interrupted something.

"Yeah." Gabby replied, though she didn't look entirely happy. Taylor knew she probably wouldn't look happy until she fixed things up with Troy.

"Cheer up, you might actually have some fun tonight." Taylor said and gave her friend a little smile. Gabby couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah I guess." She said. She highly doubted it though. From what she had heard of Brooke so far, Gabby could tell that she and the rest of Sharpay's high-class friends were most likely the type of people that acted the same way Sharpay had when she had first met her. Snobby, self-centered and able to get whatever they wanted.

After the day Gabriella had so far, those kind of people were the last kind of people she wanted to deal with.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Just when I thought your house the was biggest house I had seen…" Jason commented as they got out of the boat fifteen minutes later. "You bring me here." he finsihed, staring at the Massive house not far away from the lake's shore.

Sharpay gave a little laugh. "They have an absolutely gorgeous house." She said. "Come on, let's get up there, I want you guys to meet everyone." She added impatiently.

"Hold your horses." Chad said, helping Kelsi onto the dock before extending a hand to Taylor, who was still in the boat.

"Thank you." Taylor smiled at him and straightened out her dress.

Chad smiled back and put his hand back. Gabriella, who was the last to get out of the boat, immediately grabbed it. "Thanks Chad." She whispered when he pulled her out.

"Alright, let's go." Ryan said and led them off the dock. They walked through a beautiful garden, which was lit up with tiny little lights. The garden led to a big stone patio similar to the one at Ryan and Sharpay's house. The glass doors, which led from the house to the patio, were all open and letting in the slight breeze. They went straight through the doors and into the house.

It didn't take long for Ryan and Sharpay to find Brooke and the rest of their childhood friends. "Brooke!" Sharpay called excitedly.

A girl who was sitting on one of the clean white leather couches on the other side of the room, got up and made her way over, a bunch of other people getting up and following her as well. "Sharpay! Ryan!" she hugged them both. "It's so good to see you!" she said happily. "You brought your friends too!"

Sharpay nodded and turned to her friends, ready to introduce everyone. "Alright guys, so this is Brooke, Brittany, Travis, Kelly and Curtis." Sharpay pointed to each of her and Ryan's exquisitely dressed and well-groomed friends, who were all standing in a row now.

Brooke looked over the group of them, her eyes finally landing on Troy, who was standing closest to her. "And who is this?" she asked flirtatiously. She snaked an arm around Troy's neck and pulled herself closer to him in the process.

To everyone's surprise, Troy smiled after a brief look of shock. "Troy." He told the girl currently hanging off of him.

Gabriella stopped her mouth from dropping open. She couldn't believe it. Mostly she couldn't believe Troy. Now she was going to have to set this girl straight, since clearly Troy wasn't about to. It really wasn't something she wanted to do, but she did anyways. "Troy, baby." She said, moving towards him and slipping an arm through his. "Let's go look at the stars." She suggested, gazing up at him. She glanced at Brooke, who shrank back a bit when she realized that Troy was clearly taken.

"Alright." Troy tore his eyes away from Brooke. He was a little shocked at Gabriella's sudden move, but figured he might as well go with it.

"There's a whole buffet of food and drinks in the other room, where the big party is, if any of you want it." The girl that Sharpay had introduced as Brittany told them nicely.

"Thanks." Gabriella smiled at her. "Come on, let's go." She said to Troy, acting as if there was nothing wrong between them. The two of them left, and she knew that they left the room silent.

They walked straight to the buffet that Brittany had just told them about. "Want anything?" Troy asked.

Gabriella just looked at him blankly for a second. Did he not understand that what he had just done was definitely not okay? "No." she replied, getting annoyed now.

"So where to then?" Troy asked. He had noticed the touch of anger in her voice but had gone on anyways.

Gabriella looked at him again. Apparently he wasn't getting the clue that she was mad. "Forget about it." She shook her head angrily and turned away, heading for one of the doors they had first come through to get into the house.

Troy sighed, letting out a little groan of frustration. He was trying to decide exactly what to do. Go after her or do what she advised and forget about it for the night? Things were getting more complicated by the minute.

"Dude, what is going on?" Chad asked, coming up beside him. He had secretly been watching Troy and Gabriella, and had seen everything that had just happened.

"This day is just getting worse and worse." Troy told him. "Now, not only is Gabriella mad about this morning, but apparently she is mad about something else."

"Well what is it?" Chad was curious.

"I have no idea." Troy sighed.

Unfortunately for him, Taylor came up on the other side. She had heard their last bit of conversation and was rolling her eyes. "Are you both blind?" she asked. "Obviously Gabby is mad about your little introduction with Brooke." She said to Troy.

"Oh yeah…" Chad couldn't help but nod along with that.

"What?" Troy asked. "What did I do?"

Taylor and Chad exchanged a glance. "Has your brain stop working or something?" Taylor asked. Her voice was getting louder. She couldn't believe that Troy couldn't see it.

"Uh…" Troy started, wondering how to answer that. He looked to Chad for help.

Chad shrugged. He couldn't lie about this one to try and make things better. "It looked like you completely forgot you have a girlfriend." He explained carefully.

"So she's mad because…" Troy trailed off and thought about it. Then, to Chad and Taylor's surprise, his confused face turned into an angry one, instead of an understanding one. "I'll be back." He muttered before heading in the direction that Gabriella had just gone.

Taylor and Chad watched him leave. "Think we should do something?" Chad asked. He was a little frightened, since he recognized his friend's anger. He didn't want anything bad to happen.

"No." Taylor shook her head. "We'll go check on them in a little while and break them up if necessary. She sighed.

Meanwhile, Troy was walking quickly across the patio and out into the garden. He spotted Gabriella walking slowly, not to far ahead of him. He jogged and caught up to her. "Wow, you followed me." Gabriella said when she noticed him.

"Yeah. I think maybe we should talk now." Troy told her, some ice in his voice.

She looked at him. "Wouldn't you rather go and get to know Brooke while you can?" she matched his tone.

Troy let out a little frustrated laugh. "So you are mad about that." he nodded.

Gabby rolled her eyes. "You finally figured it out…" she sighed. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever get the message."

Troy took a deep breath. "So it's okay for you to get mad about this, but it's not okay for me to get mad about Tristan?" he asked.

Gabriella stopped walking and turned to face him. "The thing with Tristan is completely different." She told Troy, much more seriously.

"Really?" Troy was completely frustrated. "Why does it seem like everything is different with Tristan?"

"Because, unlike what I just saw, when I'm with Tristan or talking to Tristan all I can feel is guilty, while you seemed to forget I even existed." Gabriella told him, her voice rising. "I'm always thinking about how you would react, because I know you don't like him, and that's perfectly fine, but you have to understand that this is just the way I am." She burst out. "I draw people in, I don't judge them, and if they need help or a friend or whatever, I'll give them that." She went on, finding that her eyes were beginning to fill up with angry and desperate tears. It was all coming out now. "Tristan just needs somebody to talk to." She sighed, and took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "But I'll stop if it's going to cause stuff like this." She finished, reaching a hand up and wiping a few tears away.

"No…" Troy sighed. His anger had faded away with her outburst. He knew that trying to stop her from being a good person was something he just couldn't do. No matter how much it bothered him. "I'm sorry." He stepped closer to her and took both of her hands in his.

Gabby closed her eyes and sighed. "Me too." She told him.

Troy looked at her. "So why are you still crying then?" he asked.

Gabriella stared back, thinking for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "I just wish there was some way that you would know I'm always yours." She told him.

Troy thought about that for a moment. Then he let go of her hands, and to her surprise, pulled his class ring, which he always wore, right off of his finger. "Here." he said, grabbing her hand and dropping the ring into her palm.

Gabriella was stuck between happiness and worry. She ended up shaking her head. "Troy, a ring can't solve our problems." She told him realistically.

He took a deep breath. "I know." he said. "But it can help."


	39. Tired and Confused

**Chapter 39: Tired and Confused**

"Ugh…just close!" Gabriella half yelled in frustration at her suitcase. She took the foot she had been standing on it with off, and stared at the piece of luggage, which was currently bulging with clothes. There had to be some way she could get it shut.

"What's going on?" Troy asked, walking in after finishing some dessert. Gabriella had skipped it in order to do some last minute packing.

Gabby turned to face him and gave him her best attempt at a smile. "Oh nothing." She said. "I just bought way too much the other day."

"Having troubles closing your bag now? Troy guessed, correct right away.

Gabriella hated that. How could he figure it out right away? "No it's fine." She assured him.

Troy let out a little laugh. "Gabby?"

"Yes?" she replied.

He pointed at her suitcase. "Sit."

She immediately gave him a weird look. "Why?"

"So I can help you zip it up. Troy offered, stating the obvious.

Gabriella shook her head. "I told you, it's fine." She lied.

Apparently Troy wasn't taking no for an answer. "Sit." He repeated himself. Gabriella finally gave in and plopped down on the lid of her suitcase. Troy gave another little laugh before bending to her level to zip up the zipper. He got it closed right away. "There." He said when he was done.

"You have to make everything look so simple don't you?" Gabriella asked with a smirk on her face.

"Of course." Troy joked back, making her laugh a little.

When she stopped laughing, she looked at him. "Thanks." She said happily. That was when she realized how close together they were. Troy was still at the same level as she was, neither of them had moved, even though her suitcase was completely zipped up. She could swear that the space between them was growing smaller.

"Gabby I need your help!" Sharpay yelled as she came into the room. She stopped in her tracks. "Woops…you two are having a moment, sorry!" She said more quietly and started to back out of the room.

Gabriella sighed. "No it's okay." She told her friend. Her and Troy both got up from the floor. "What do you need?" she asked.

Sharpay held up her hands. In each one she was holding a different headband. One was pearly white, while the other was wrapped with pink satin. "Which one?" she asked. "I'm completely torn."

Gabriella felt a flicker of annoyance towards Sharpay. It didn't last long, but she wondered how Sharpay always knew to walk in at the worst moments. She just didn't have the heart to say anything to her friend. "Um…the pink" She finally told her.

Sharpay was completely satisfied with that response, thank goodness. "Thanks" she said happily. She began to back out of the room again, and stopped only once. "You can go back to your moment now." She told Gabriella and Troy, trying to fix what she had broken by storming in. It seemed to only make things worse.

Gabriella turned her head to look at Troy, and realized that he was still standing close to her. For some reason it was freaking her out. "We should probably…" she had to stop for a moment when she started getting pulled in. All he had to do was look at her, those eyes did all the work. She tore her eyes away from his. "Take the bags down to the car." She finished.

Apparently that wasn't what Troy had in mind. "Gabby." He said quietly.

"What?" she asked.

Troy slipped his hand under her chin and lifted it, so she had no choice but to catch his gaze. "What are we doing?" he asked.

She knew exactly what he meant by that. They weren't acting the way they usually did. There was no unnecessary touching or kissing. Gabby wasn't perching herself in Troy's lap every chance she got, and he wasn't surprising her from behind. Of course things weren't going to be perfect right away, but did they have to be this bad? "I don't know." Gabriella shrugged. She heard him sigh, and felt like she needed to do something. That something came in the form of a kiss. She pulled herself away before she could get too into it though. "Let's go." She told him, before grabbing her suitcase and walking out of the room, her luggage wheeling behind her.

Gabby stopped for a moment out in the hallway, taking a deep breath. She hated this. She hated how they had worked things out, but couldn't be happy right away.

Gabriella glanced down at her hand and saw the glinting red of the stone in Troy's ring. It sat on her finger, confusing her a little more every time she saw it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later that night, Gabriella was dropped off at her house by Chad. They had left the Evans house after dinner and had traveled for hours, so it was pretty late. Gabriella was surprised to see lights on in he living room of her house. As soon as she got inside she went to see who was up.

"Hey mom." Gabriella dumped her bag onto the floor. Her mom was sitting there reading a book, a cup of tea on the table beside her.

"Hi sweetie." Her mom got up and gave her daughter a hug when she came over. "How was your week getaway?" she asked.

"It was nice." Gabby smiled. "Anything interesting happen around here while I was gone?" she asked.

"Actually…" her mom trailed off and walked over to a table, picking up an envelope in the process. "It's here again." She handed the envelope to her daughter.

Gabriella turned it over and instantly recognized the crest on the corner of the envelope. "Every year, same time…" she mumbled to herself.

"Gabby, it's your last chance for this, so really think it through okay?" her mom put a hand on her arm.

"Yeah I know." Gabby sighed. She suddenly didn't feel so talkative and decided to just go to bed. "I'm pretty tired, I think I'm just going to go sleep." She told her mom. "Goodnight." She gave her another hug before leaving the room. She grabbed her bag on the way and brought it upstairs. The envelope was still in her hands.

When she finally got to her room, she dropped her bag again and lifted the envelope to look at it again. Her mind was instantly filled with too many thoughts to handle for now. So instead of dealing with it, she opened the drawer of her desk and stuffed the envelope inside, hiding it away from view.

If she couldn't see it, it wasn't there, right?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy was the last one that Chad dropped off. Since he was going to his mom's house, they had to go to the other side of the city. By the time they got there it was late and the house was completely dark. Troy took his keys out and swung the bag he had brought to the Evan's over his shoulder. He walked around to the driver's window and looked at Chad. "Thanks for driving me." He told him.

"No problem, see you later." Chad replied tiredly.

"Do you want to just crash here?" Troy suggested, feeling bad that Chad had done all of the driving for the day.

"Nah, it's okay." Chad smiled. "I'm looking forward to my own bed anyways."

Troy laughed. "I know exactly what you mean." He told him. He knew the feeling, since he himself couldn't wait to go upstairs and flop onto his bed. He knew that he'd be asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

"Bye." Chad said finally before pulling out of the driveway.

Troy walked up to the front door and unlocked it, pushing it open carefully and hoping that it didn't creak. Unfortunately, since his mom and Ben were sleeping, every light in the house was off. They hadn't left one on for him because they didn't know he was coming. Troy had decided last minute to come here instead of his dad's.

Upstairs, Troy turned to the right and headed for his room. He opened the door and switched the big light on. Immediately he took a step back, and dropped his bag in shock. There was a girl sitting on his bed and reading a magazine by the light of the little bedside lamp.

She looked at Troy, looking just as shocked as he was. "Who are you?" she asked.

Troy didn't answer that. "Who are you? He shot back instead. "And why are you in my room?" he asked as well.

The girl looked at him for a moment. Troy could tell she was busy thinking of something. "You're Troy aren't you?" she finally asked.

"Yeah." Troy replied. What was going on here? "And you are?" he asked.

"Jordan." The girl replied, though that did nothing to help Troy. Jordan was a slightly petite brunette with choppy layers of waves falling around her face to her shoulders.

"Okay." Troy tried to blink some of the sleepiness out of his eyes. "So, Jordan, why are you in my room?" he asked again, hoping to get to the bottom of this.

Jordan shrugged. "Because the guest room is full of boxes right now and your mom said you weren't going to be home for a few days." She told Troy.

Apparently she had no idea how unhelpful she was being. "The guest room isn't full of boxes." Troy told her.

"Yes it is." Jordan insisted.

Troy sighed tiredly. "Okay, I'm too tired to figure this out right now." he gave up, wanting so badly to just crawl into his bed and sleep.

To his complete shock, Jordan grabbed one of the pillows off of his bed and stuffed it into his arms. "Too bad I'm in here right now." She said with a little innocent shrug. "The couch looked pretty comfy though."

"But….what?" Troy said. "You can't just…"

"Goodnight Troy." Jordan told him happily, clearly wanting him to go.

Even though he was completely frustrated and had no idea what was going on in his own house, he knew that he wasn't going to win right now. So instead, Troy just turned around and left his room, dragging his bag behind him and going back downstairs.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Troy woke up the next morning, he was completely confused. He wasn't still at the Evan's house, but he wasn't in his own room either. At first he was too tired to try to figure it out. But then he got woken up.

"Troy?" someone said. They sounded curious.

Troy finally opened up his eyes and looked to see who it was. "Oh hey Ben." He said groggily.

"What are you doing on the couch man?" Ben asked. He was totally confused.

"Mm…because my room was taken by some girl." Troy waved a hand and yawned. Clearly he wasn't awake enough yet to have this conversation.

But Ben was starting to figure out what was going on, and wondered if their mom knew that Troy was home. He went into the kitchen, where she was busy making pancakes. "Mom, did you know that Troy slept on the couch last night?" he asked her.

"Oh good morning sweetie." Diane greeted her son happily. "Sorry what did you just say about Troy?" she asked.

Ben sighed before repeating himself. "Did you know he slept on the couch last night?" he asked his mom.

His mom gave a little laugh. "No, Troy was going to your father's house last night." She corrected him.

Ben shook his head. "Well plans must of changed or something." He said.

Diane put down the coffee she was holding and seemed to become a little more serious. "You're not joking around?" she asked. Ben could see that she was just as confused as he was.

A rustle of a newspaper from the other side of the room interrupted the two of them. "Diane, maybe you should go and talk to him." Kevin suggested. He had been sitting there the whole time, absorbed in his reading.

"Talk to me about what?" they heard. They all turned and saw Troy standing at the doorway to the kitchen. He had apparently woken up and was now back to being curious about what was going on.

But before his mom, Ben or Kevin could say a word, the same girl he had met last night came waltzing into the kitchen. She went straight for the fridge, grabbing a glass on the way. She filled it up with orange juice and turned to look at the people watching her.

"Hey Troy, have a good sleep?" Jordan asked happily.

He gave a little shrug. "I see you're an actual person and I wasn't hallucinating last night." He admitted.

"I bet that makes you feel a bit better." Jordan said with a little laugh.

It was then that Diane realized why Troy had been sleeping on the couch. "Oh yes that's right, Jordan has been in your room!" she said. "Oh we'll have to fix that right away."

That did nothing to explain anything. "Okay, what is going on here?" Troy asked, beginning to get annoyed.

"Is he like stupid or something?" Jordan asked.

Ben had no response but to roll his eyes. "No." he muttered in reply.

During this time, Diane seemed to have worked herself up to telling Troy what was really happening here. "See honey, I wanted to tell you, but you were away and I didn't want to trouble you." She said.

"Trouble me with what?" Troy asked, beginning to feel concerned.

"Well…" his mom started. "This week Kevin and his daughter Jordan, who I guess you met last night," she began to explain, sounding a little nervous. "Well they moved in."

Troy honestly had no response to that but to let his mouth drop open slightly. When he saw them all waiting for him to say something, he pushed out the first thing that came to mind. "Okay…"


	40. Failed Communication

**Hey guys I'm so sorry for the long wait. I've been pretty busy the past few weeks and honestly, I wanted to make sure that I know where this story is going.**

**So anyways, I wont let it happen again. I hope you like this chapter and I'll get an update up on my other story a.s.a.p.!**

**Chapter 40 : Failed Communication**

About a week after getting home from the Evan's summer home, Gabriella was at work at the McKessie's restaurant, standing around miserably while she waited for orders of food. The past week hadn't exactly been the best ever, since Troy seemed to have disappeared. On top of that, she'd been off in some other world, lost in thought. There was just one moment that she just couldn't stop thinking about. She could analyze it and pick it apart for hours…

-

"_I'm sorry." Troy stepped closer to her and took both of her hands in his._

_Gabby closed her eyes and sighed. "Me too." She told him._

_Troy looked at her. "So why are you still crying then?" he asked._

_Gabriella stared back, thinking for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "I just wish there was some way that you would know I'm always yours." She told him._

_Troy thought about that for a moment. Then he let go of her hands, and to her surprise, pulled his class ring, which he always wore, right off of his finger. "Here." he said, grabbing her hand and dropping the ring into her palm._

_Gabriella was stuck between happiness and worry. She ended up shaking her head. "Troy, a ring can't solve our problems." She told him realistically._

_He took a deep breath. "I know." he said. "But it can help."_

_Gabriella wasn't sure what to say to that. She knew there was more to this. She needed to figure out what he meant by this. Did she belong to him now or something? That wasn't what she had meant when she had said 'always yours', was it?_

_But before she could open her mouth to ask him, someone came bounding down the dock. Gabriella and Troy both turned their heads and saw Chad and Taylor stopping them selves from running._

"_They aren't killing each other." Chad said in amazement._

_Taylor sighed. "I told you they would be fine." She told him, clearly annoyed that he had made her run all the way down here for nothing. She looked quickly at her friends, and her face changed a little when she saw that Gabriella had been crying. "You are fine right?" she asked._

_Gabriella gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, we're fine." She replied. Her hand closed over Troy's ring before either Chad or Taylor could see it._

"_Great." Chad said happily. He seemed content that what had become his favorite couple was still intact. "So are you guys coming back up to the party then?"_

"_Yeah we'll be there in a minute." Troy told them._

"_Sounds good!" Taylor smiled at them both. "Let's go Chad." She grabbed her boyfriend's arm and dragged him away, knowing that Troy and Gabriella probably wanted to be alone._

_When they were gone, Gabriella turned to look at Troy, biting her lip. He was waiting for her to say something, so she went for it. "If you really think it can help…" she said, before taking the ring out of her hand and slipping it on her finger._

_Troy didn't say anything, he just smiled and grabbed her hand. Gabriella was silently thankful she hadn't questioned him._

_-_

"Oh my god, why didn't I just ask him?" Gabriella burst out, when she snapped out of it. She had been doing this all week long, and it was beginning to bug her. She just couldn't control herself though.

"Ask who what?" Taylor seemed to suddenly appear. Somehow Gabriella knew she had been three the whole time.

"Nothing." Gabriella sighed.

Taylor was silent for a moment, searching for some gentle way to ask what she really wanted to know. "Okay what is going on with you?" she finally said, a little less gentle then she had hoped.

"Good question." Gabriella replied.

"Oh come on…spill." Taylor begged. "You've been acting strange all week, since we got back from the Evans." She said. "Wait…you and Troy did actually make up right?"

"I think so." Gabriella told her.

Taylor's eyes widened. "You think so?" she repeated. "How do you not know for sure?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I haven't talked to him all week." She said. "I've called and called, but he hasn't picked up…or replied to any of my messages."

"He hasn't?" Taylor asked. "That doesn't sound like Troy at all." She said.

"I know." Gabriella sighed. "But the thing is, I have know idea why he doesn't seem to want to talk to me." She said sadly, having thought about this far too much over the week.

"But he gave you his ring, I thought you guys worked everything out." Taylor frowned, clearly confused.

"Yeah, well so did I." Gabriella said.

"Try calling again." Taylor suddenly demanded.

"What? Why?" Gabby asked. She had been ready to give up.

Taylor looked at her seriously. "Just do it." She told her.

"Okay fine." Gabriella pulled out her cell phone. "But I really don't think it's going to make much of a difference, unless Troy magically decides to pick up this time." She said as she dialed.

Taylor watched Gabriella wait, knowing that the phone was ringing. Finally, she lost her patience. "Here give me that." She snatched the phone out of Gabriella's hands before she could argue, and lifted it to her own ear. She heard the answering machine message come on, followed by a beep. "Hey Bolton, it's Taylor, just calling because Gabriella is too sweet to leave you some bitter message herself." She said loudly into the speaker. Gabriella winced from beside her. "So if you happen to find the time, please call your girlfriend because she's confused and sort of…"

"Okay that's enough." Gabriella reached out and grabbed her phone, hanging it up right away.

"I'm sorry, someone had to do it." Taylor shrugged innocently. "And since you clearly aren't going to…" she trailed off.

"I know…thanks Tay." Gabby gave her a weak smile.

Taylor could tell that she was upset, so changed her attitude right away. "Okay look, how about when we get of work today we get Sharpay and Kelsi and just go have a girls night out." She suggested. "We can go see a movie and stuff. No boys. No worries."

"That sounds good actually, I think I need to stop worrying about this." Gabriella's smile grew a little bigger.

"Exactly," Taylor said happily. "And maybe Troy will even call back when he gets my message." She joked.

Gabriella gave a little laugh. "Maybe." She sighed.

"Hello?" one of the younger chefs suddenly interrupted the two girls. "These dishes have been sitting here for ages, they're going to get cold!"

Gabriella immediately picked up the two plates to take them out, but Taylor looked at the chef with a bit of a glare. "Hey, cool it mister, my parents are your bosses!" she said.

Gabriella just heard the beginning of the chef's reply before the door swung closed behind her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Okay left, watch out for the banister." Ben directed his brother around the house. The two of them were carrying Jordan's mattress from the car to the guest room, which had now become hers.

It had been about a week since Troy had found out about Kevin and Jordan moving in while he was gone. At first, he had freaked out a little, and gone to his Dad's house right away. Once his dad had heard what was going on though, he sent Troy back to his mom's house, telling him that he would just have to face it.

Once he was there, things hadn't been so bad. He had been able to keep mostly to himself when he wasn't working, except for when his mom asked him and Ben to help out painting the guest room a new colour, moving boxes around all over the house, and now, helping get Jordan's huge new mattress up to her room.

Their mom stared up at them from the front hallway. "Isn't it great that we have two strong boys to help out?" she said happily.

"It's fabulous." Jordan agreed, sounding just as happy.

"Marvelous…" Troy muttered.

"Wonderful." Ben did the same as his brother.

"Pardon?" Jordan asked them both. She was watching them carefully as they made their way up the stairs.

"Nothing." Troy replied. He continued to carefully step backwards up the stairs. He didn't even stop when his cell phone started ringing from his shirt pocket.

"You want to get that?" Ben asked him.

"Nope it's alright." Troy replied distractedly. He was trying to ignore the ringing, knowing who it probably was.

Jordan looked interested. "That's like the eighth time you haven't answered your phone in the past few days." She noted. "Sounds like you don't want to talk to someone." She assumed.

Troy shrugged. "Well clearly I have my hands full at the moment." He made an excuse, hoping she would just drop it.

"Yeah and you were too busy last night while you were lying on the couch watching TV." Jordan rolled her eyes. Knowing that Troy couldn't do anything about it, she reached out and grabbed his phone from his shirt pocket. "Oh Gabriella….is that your girlfriend?" she asked after reading the name on caller display.

Troy sighed. "Yes." He muttered. He saw Ben look at him curiously, and shot an'It's complicated, don't ask' look back.

Jordan noticed and raised an eyebrow. "Trouble in paradise?" she asked.

Troy actually considered that, instead of just brushing it off as he had with so many of her questions over the past week. "I don't know." He told her honestly after a while.

Unfortunately Troy was telling the complete truth. He had no idea what was going on with him and Gabriella. Last time he had seen her, things hadn't been very good. Their fight had left things uncomfortable. He knew that not talking to her probably wasn't helping at all. He hadn't answered any calls all week, except for Chad, who had called almost twenty times in a row before Troy finally gave in and answered. Gabriella just wasn't the type of person to do that.

"You're such a boy." Jordan said what both Troy and Ben understood to be her favorite line. She enjoyed reminding them, usually rolling her eyes at the same time.. Troy's phone had stopped ringing, and she held onto it while she watched the two boys lay her new mattress on the bed frame. Suddenly his phone beeped. "Oh, you have a message!" Jordan said almost sounding excited.

"Thank you." Troy said sarcastically and snatched his phone from her hands. He opened it and walked to the other side of the room to listen to the message. He had to pull the phone away from his ear when he heard a loud voice. He relized a second later that it was Taylor.

"Hey Bolton, it's Taylor, just calling because Gabriella is too sweet to leave you some bitter message herself. So if you happen to find the time, please call your girlfriend because she's confused and sort of…" Taylor's voice told him angrily.

"Okay that's enough." Gabriella's calmer sounding voice interrupted her friend and hung up the phone.

Troy sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. When he turned around, he saw Ben and Jordan watching him curiously. "What?" he asked.

"That was her?" Jordan asked. "Because she sounds….lovely." she said with a strange look on her face.

"No, that wasn't actually, thanks for listening though." Troy replied. He was a little worked up from hearing Taylor's message. Yeah, he felt horrible for not talking to his girlfriend, but they really had no clue what was going on.

"Well it was kind of hard not to hear." Jordan informed him.

"She's right." Ben shrugged innocently.

"Okay well…it wasn't her. It was her friend." He told them. Before they could get anything else out of him, his phone rang again. He grabbed it and looked at it. "And this is Chad, I'll be back." He told them and left the room, rushing to his own and shutting the door behind him. "Hey Chad." He finally answered, crashing onto his bed.

"Hey man how's it going?" Chad asked. He was the only one who knew what was going on with Troy, but knew very few details.

"Alright." Troy answered automatically. "What's up?" he asked.

"Ah, nothing." Chad told him. "Hey do you want to hang out? We could call the girls and do, I don't know…whatever." He said.

"Sure." Troy replied. "Except how about just us two?" he asked. "We haven't had one of our video game matches in a while and you no how much the girls hate those." He told Chad, making an offer that he couldn't refuse.

"Oh bring it on buddy." Chad said excitedly. "I think Taylor was planning some girls night or whatever anyways."

"I'll be there in a bit." Troy told him, before hanging up and getting himself up off of his bed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Well I'm sorry I didn't give you a full twenty four hour warning, but it just came up and I couldn't call you while I was at work!" Taylor said into the speaker of her phone as her and Gabriella crossed the parking lot in front of her parent's restaurant. She had already informed Kelsi of the plan for that evening. Then she had called Sharpay, who was now making quite a fuss.

"She doesn't have to come." Gabriella said calmly, knowing immediately that Taylor hadn't heard her.

"I'm sure that Zeke can deal for one night!" Taylor exclaimed after listening for a moment. She waited again. Gabriella assumed that that Sharpay was talking. "Okay, okay….see you then." She smiled a little. "Bye Shar." She said.

"So?" Gabriella asked.

"She'll meet us at the theatre, just like Kelsi." Taylor replied happily. "You know, I love that girl like a sister, but sometimes she is such a drama queen." She shook her head, laughing lightly.

"You just noticed that?" Gabriella joked.

Taylor smiled at her. "Well she seemed to think that laving Zeke would be horrible, but he was sitting right there and told her he'd just go out with Jason or something…and voila!" she said.

"Thanks Tay." Gabriella smiled.

"No problem." Taylor told her. "Just promise me you'll have fun tonight and wont let your mind drift off to Troy troubles." She said more seriously. She unlocked her car and went over to the driver's side.

"I'll try my hardest." Gabriella told her. She opened the door of the car and got in. When she was in and had shut the door, she noticed that Taylor was rooting around for something in the back seat. "What are you looking for?" she asked curiously.

"My blue sweater." Taylor told her. "I'll need it later but I don't remember where I…oh no…." she stopped talking abruptly.

"What?" Gabby asked.

"I left it at Chad's house." Taylor realized. She looked at Gabriella "Do you mind if we just stop by his house quickly on the way to the theatre so that I can grab it?" she asked.

"Sure." Gabriella nodded.

"Alright." Taylor smiled. She turned on the radio and pulled out of the parking lot. Not long after, she was pulling up at the sidewalk in front of Chad's house. "Okay I'll be quick." Taylor told Gabriella when she turned off the car.

Gabriella watched her open the car door and start to get out. "Sure you will." She smiled the tiniest bit. She new that there was no possible way Taylor could be quick if she was about to step into Chad's house.

"You know you can come if you want." Taylor told her.

Gabriella shook her head. "I'm okay here." She said. "I don't think I could deal with Chad right now…no offence or anything." She added.

Taylor shrugged. "Believe me, sometimes I feel that way too." She smiled at her friend before slamming the car door and quickly making her way up the front steps of the Danforth's house.

It didn't take long for Chad to come running to the door. "Hey Taylor." He said happily when he saw his girlfriend on the front step. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I left my sweater here last night." Taylor told him. "I think in the living room…do you mind if I grab it quickly?" she asked.

"Sure come on in." Chad said. He shut the door behind her and followed her into the living room.

He nearly ran right into Taylor when she froze mid-step. She had seen who was currently sitting on the couch. "You're here." She said, sounding surprised.

Troy looked a little scared of Taylor, which confused Chad. "Uh…hi Taylor." He said carefully.

Taylor sighed and rolled her eyes in response. "Did you hear the message I left you?" she asked Troy.

"Yeah…" he replied, still looking scared.

"Okay what is going on here?" Chad asked. His best friend and girlfriend had never acted so strange together before.

Taylor looked at her boyfriend. "Did you know that he hasn't talked to Gabriella all week?" she asked him.

"No." Chad replied simply. He looked at Troy. "You haven't?" he asked.

Troy sighed and got up from the couch. "Look, you guys really don't need to get into this okay…everything's fine." He told them both seriously.

"Ha!" Taylor rolled her eyes again. She knew that what he had just said was most likely the farthest from the truth. "Nice try, but Gabriella is out sitting in the car right now." she told him. "Go talk to her." She pointed towards the door.

"Wha…" Troy started. He was surprised to hear that Gabriella was there.

"Please Troy!" Taylor said more seriously.

"Okay okay!" Troy took a deep breath and left the room.

Taylor sighed when she heard the front door close behind him. This would either go well, or things would just get worse.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabriella was beginning to wonder what was taking Taylor so long. She had figured that her friend would be inside for a few minutes, but time seemed to be dragging on now. She looked at the back seat and saw a magazine lying there. Figuring that she might as well occupy herself, Gabriella grabbed it and began flipping through the pages.

After a bit, Gabby heard some footsteps, and then the car door opened and someone got in. She kept staring at the magazine in her lap, figuring it was just Taylor. But after a moment Gabriella found it strange that she wasn't saying anything.

She looked up and was completely surprised to see Troy sitting in the drivers seat. Even though for the past few days, she had thought of countless things to say to him when he was finally in front of her again, now she was speechless.

"Hi." Troy said, sounding a little unsure.

That seemed completely stupid to Gabriella. Especially when she wanted him to explain, not just sit there looking at her. "Well hi to you too." She said slightly sarcastically. She suddenly had a feeling like she was trapped in a tiny little space with no air to breathe. She needed to get out of the car, and so she did.

Troy winced when the door slammed behind her. He turned to get out of his side. "Gabriella!" he called out. She stopped moving and leaned against Taylor's car, her back to Troy. He walked around it so that he could stand in front of her. "Gabby…" he tried to catch her eyes.

Gabriella finally worked up to what she wanted to say. "I thought we sorted everything out when we were away." She told him. "That stupid fight…" she shook her head and looked up at him. "But I guess not since you haven't answered any of my calls or tried to call me for that matter." She added.

"This has nothing to so with what happened when we were away." Troy told her. "I swear. It's completely different."

That didn't seem to calm Gabriella. "What so now you have another reason to not be talking to me?" she sighed. "Great." She muttered.

"No… Okay this is going to sound like worst excuse ever, but I was busy." Troy said and waited for her response to that.

Gabriella stared at him for a moment. "Yeah that is the worst excuse ever." She told him. "I mean…busy? What exactly is that supposed to…"

She was suddenly cut off when Troy kissed her. When he pulled away he could see that she was completely shocked. "I'm sorry." He said before she could respond. "I wanted to call you back, I really did." He told her. "But I just…didn't know what to say."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked. Her sarcasm and anger were melting away. "What is going on Troy?"

"When we got home, and I went to my mom's," He paused for a moment. "I found out that Kevin and his daughter moved in."

"What?" Gabriella said in shock. Troy just looked at her and nodded. "And no one decided to tell you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I guess not."

Gabriella was silent for a long moment. She remembered Troy's reaction when his mom and Kevin had started dating…now this? "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah…" Troy sighed. "I'm just still trying to wrap my head around it I guess."

Gabriella tried to think of something to say, but found that she was completely lost for words. Instead, she just pulled him into a hug, and felt a wave of guilt rush over her. All week she had been thinking that him not calling had been for completely different reasons. "Now I feel horrible." She whispered into his shoulder. "I thought you were just being a total jerk."

To Gabriella's surprise, Troy let out a little laugh. "Yeah I kind of got that from Taylor's message." He told her.

Gabriella winced. She pulled away, but only a little so that she was still in his arms. "That was all her." She told him. Troy nodded. "Why didn't you just tell me everything though?" she asked, curious to know why he hadn't talked to her for the whole week just for that one reason.

He bit his lip. "Well…I knew you'd want to talk about it, and I just wanted to…figure out what I thought about it first." He told her honestly. "Plus, I wasn't entirely sure what is going on with us." He admitted.

"Yeah I think that's my fault." Gabby sighed.

Troy looked at her. "Why would it be your fault?" he asked carefully.

"That night at the party, when you gave me your ring, I freaked out a little." Gabriella explained. "I wasn't sure what it meant, but you just seemed so…hopeful that it would fix everything, so I didn't bother asking." She said quietly.

"You can ask now." Troy said after taking what she said in.

"Oh….well…" Gabby wasn't sure

"Better late than never." He told her.

"Okay…." Gabriella started. "Does your ring mean I belong to you or something?" She asked, and looked at him, waiting for an answer.

Troy smiled a little. "Do you want it to mean that?" he asked her.

Gabriella had expected him to just give her a straight answer, but now she had to figure it out on her own. Did she want to be his? "Yes." She blurted out suddenly, shocking herself a bit.

Troy looked at her. "You sure about that?" he asked. He could see the shock on her face.

"Yes I am." Gabriella smiled now. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck just in time for him to kiss her again.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Ooh, Taylor check it out!" Chad wave a hand at her, beckoning her over to the window, where he had been standing since Troy had gone outside, watching.

Taylor got up from the couch and went over to him. "What is it?" she looked out, not expecting much. "Oh…okay then. I guess they aren't fighting." She said in surprise when she saw Troy and Gabriella, standing out by her car, kissing. "Come on, let's not watch." She told Chad, moving away from the window again.

"Taylor, they're making out in the middle of the sidewalk, I don't think they should be expecting privacy." Chad argued.

"Chad." Taylor said warningly.

"Fine." He rolled his eyes and left the window. He plopped down on the couch, which she had already gone back to. "And you were worried…" he gave a little laugh.

"Of course I was worried." Taylor looked at him. "Troy and Gabriella have barely spent a day apart all summer, let alone a whole week." She reminded him. "After everything that happened at the Evans, it wasn't exactly the greatest time for Troy's mom to get her boyfriend to move in…" she sighed. Chad had just filled her in on what was currently going on with Troy

"Tell me about it." Chad sighed as well. The two of them heard the front door open and moments later Troy and Gabriella came into the living room. "Hey guys." Chad greeted them happily. "Finish making out…I mean…making up?" he asked. Taylor shook her head at his slip up.

"Yes Chad, we finished making up" Gabriella told him, putting emphasis on 'up'

"And out." Troy muttered. Chad laughed at that.

Gabriella and Taylor looked at each other and sighed. "These two are totally rotten together." Gabriella told her friend.

"Tell me about it." Taylor smirked. "They're like twins. I swear one day Troy is going to grow and afro or something."

Troy's hands flew to his head. "Uh, no thanks!" he said protectively.

Chad laughed. "I'd like to see that happen." He said jokingly "It takes a certain kind of person to be able to pull my kind of look off." He informed them all.

"And I am proud to not be one of them." Troy smirked. His remark earned him a punch in the arm from Chad.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Okay you boys go ahead and play…we have a movie to catch with the girls." She told them.

"Come back later?" Chad asked. "We can order a pizza and just hang out." He offered.

Taylor and Gabriella looked at each other. "Sounds good." They said at the same time.

"See you later." Taylor told Chad and gave him a quick kiss. When the two of them pulled apart, they looked over to see Troy and Gabriella caught in their own moment.

"Uh…guys?" Chad spoke up after a moment.

"Sorry." Troy let go of his girlfriend and took a step away from her, a smile on his face. "Go. Have fun." He said.

"Bye." Gabriella nodded happily and grabbed Taylor by the arm. The two of them left just as quickly as they had come.

When Taylor's car had disappeared down the street, Chad looked at his friend. "So, I think we should get back to out game so I can finish you off." He told Troy.

Troy simply rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you wish."


	41. Missed You

**Okay, I FINALLY got this done, and I think I'm finally out of a crazy patch of stuff so I can post more often.**

**Sorry about taking forever...I feel terrible.**

**This chapter isn't amazing, but I'm already almost done another one.**

**I should be updating my other story asap too**

**So enjoy!!**

**This is dedicated to all of you who have waited so nicely!**

**Chapter 41: Missed You**

"Ugh…I'm exhausted." Gabriella groaned while she and Troy walked the front path to her house. It was late and he was dropping her off at home for the night. When Gabby and Taylor had gone back to Chad's after their movie, the four of them had completely lost track of time.

"Why's that?" Troy asked curiously.

Gabriella thought about it. "Well I was working all day, and I had to get up extra early so that I could drop my mom off at the airport." She told him. "Plus, I just had a lot on my mind I guess." She admitted truthfully.

Troy nodded slowly He knew he had been a big part of what was on her mind. He felt guilty so, he didn't question her about it. "Where'd your mom go?" he asked instead.

"Chicago? New York?" Gabby shrugged. "I can't keep track anymore really."

Troy gave a little laugh. "I see." He told her. They reached her door and he turned to face her. "Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

Gabriella shook her head. "Don't go." She wrapped her arms around him and nestled her face into his shoulder.

Troy smiled a little. "I have to go otherwise we'll be out here all night." He told her quietly.

"Then just stay here." Gabriella replied.

"I don't know…" Troy remembered his dad's warning when he had gotten caught sneaking home from Gabriella's a while ago. Then again, his dad might never find out since Troy was currently staying at his mom's. He hadn't really been at his dad's much unless Natalie wanted to hang out. She was going to be going home soon.

Gabriella moved her face from his shoulder and looked up at him. "What if you don't have a choice?" she asked with a little smirk.

Troy laughed. "I guess I have to then." He shrugged.

She instantly smiled. "Good. Now I wont have to sleep in a lonely house." She said with a little spurt of energy. She took out her keys and unlocked the front door to let them both in.

"Where's Jaz?" Troy asked curiously while they made their way directly to Gabriella's bedroom.

Gabby shrugged. "Things must be getting serious with Ryan…or Brian? I don't remember." She told Troy. "She's out most nights now." she finished before giving a huge yawn, leaning against her bedpost.

"Tired?" Troy asked with a smile.

"Mmhmm…" Gabriella nodded. "Let's sleep." She said. Troy nodded in agreement. She went over to her dresser and grabbed her own pajamas, as well as a random t-shirt and pair of boxers she had of Troy's.

She tossed his clothes over to him and went into in the bathroom to get changed. She did everything she usually did to get ready for bed, then went back out to her bedroom. She hadn't heard anything from Troy in the past few minutes and wondered why he was being so quiet. She found him lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, the look on his face she knew was the one he wore when he was deep in thought.

Gabriella went and lay down beside him. "What're you thinking about?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

Troy let her curl up to him and rest her head on his arm. "It's nothing…" he told her. "I'm pretty tired too."

Gabby grew even more curious. "Why do I have a feeling that isn't all?" she asked knowingly. There was definitely something bugging him.

Troy sighed. "I just…I'm sorry." He finally got out. "For not telling you about everything, avoiding talking to you even…I don't know why I couldn't just…"

"Hey, it's okay." Gabriella cut him off. She thought about the letter she had stuffed into to the drawer of her desk earlier that week and realized that she couldn't exactly hold anything against him. Troy didn't reply, he just stared back up at the ceiling, looking thoughtful again, so Gabriella reached up and kissed him.

"What was that for?" Troy asked when she pulled away, looking at her with a little shock. He hadn't exactly expected that.

"I missed you." Gabby gave a little smile.

Troy took that in for a moment, before smiling himself. "I missed you too." He told her.

They looked at each other in silence. Gabriella moved from lying beside Troy to lying on top of him. "Troy?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" he looked up at her.

She leaned down so that their faces were practically touching. "I don't feel as tired anymore." She told him quietly.

Troy smiled. He rolled over so that she was on her back. "Me neither." He replied, before leaning down to kiss her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning Gabriella woke up to the sound of a phone ringing. She rolled over and tried to ignore it, wishing that it would just stop. It was Saturday morning, and she was exhausted. "Troy can you get that?" she mumbled. She waited and didn't hear anything but the phone ringing some more. "Troy?" she rolled back over and opened her eyes to look at the spot beside her.

Troy wasn't there. She leaned over to her bedside table and picked up her phone, which was still ringing. "Hello?" she answered it. Her voice sounded tired.

"Hey sleepy head." She heard a much more awake voice through the speaker.

"Troy." Gabriella smiled to herself. "Where are you?" she asked. "Since clearly you aren't here." She added

"I figured I might as well try to sneak home without my mom noticing." Troy told her.

Gabriella laughed. "I see." She said. "And did you succeed?" she asked.

"Yep." Troy replied. "Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Yeah." Gabriella leaned back into her pillows. "I must say though, it would have been nice to get a goodbye this morning." She told him.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to." She heard Troy say. "But you just look too cute when you're sleeping to wake you up."

Gabriella laughed again. "Alright. Well what are you up to today?" she asked Troy.

"Whatever you say I'm up to." He replied. "I'm all yours."

"Ooh….well I have to work the lunch shift today," Gabriella started. "But after that I'm free." She told him.

"You still haven't told me what you want to do though." Troy told her.

Gabriella smiled to herself. "Hmm….I could do with a little bit of shopping." She told him.

She heard Troy sigh. "How did I know that was coming?" He asked.

"Hey it's not my fault you asked what…" Gabriella started, but stopped when her bedroom door flew open.

Jaz came a few steps in Gabby's room and held up two pretty sundresses. "Brian's parents are in town. I'm meeting them at lunch, which one?" she asked her little sister.

"One second." Gabriella told Jaz. "Troy, I have to go."

"That's what I figured." Troy laughed. "Call me when you get off?" he asked.

"Sounds perfect." Gabby replied.

"Alright." Troy said. "Bye." He said before hanging up.

Gabriella hung up and looked back to Jaz. "Okay, what is it you want?"

Jaz looked a little panicked. "Meeting the parents, which dress?" she asked quickly.

"The green one." Gabriella replied, knowing how wonderful her sister looked in the colour. "And calm down, I'm sure they'll love you."

"Easy for you to say." Jaz told her with a roll of her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabby asked.

Jaz shrugged. "You're like the perfect girlfriend." She told her little sister. "Amazingly smart, pretty, talented, almost too nice for your own good…" Jaz listed off everything about Gabriella. "And to top it off, you're extremely faithful."

"I guess…" Gabriella hadn't really thought about that before. Not after she and Troy's rough start, and the weird patch they had just gone through. "But being perfect isn't all you need you know." she said.

"I know." Jaz nodded. "It has to count for something though."

"I guess." Gabriella shrugged.

"Anyways, thanks for helping sis." Jaz said excitedly. "I'd better go get ready." She told her, and left the room, her two dresses still in her hands.

Gabriella sat there, still in bed, and couldn't help but find herself wondering, why had Troy chosen her? Why had Ben chosen her? Was it because she was 'perfect', like Jaz had just said? She didn't know what she'd like.

"Ooh, shut up brain." Gabriella said out loud to herself. She knew that she was just over thinking it, just like Troy giving her his ring, which hadn't ended up being as big of a deal as she thought it was at first.

Things were allowed to be good, calm….even perfect. That was okay.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A few hours later, Gabriella was just finishing getting ready to leave for work. She was searching everywhere for her purse, which she put down somewhere in her house the night before and completely forgotten about. She was down in the living room, checking for it in there, when she heard keys in the lock of the front door, followed by the sound of it opening and closing again.

"Hello?" Gabby called. She always got a little bit freaked out when she didn't know who was coming into her house. At least this time she knew that whoever it was had a key. She walked across to the living room to get to the front hall.

"Princess!" she heard a familiar voice before she even saw who was there.

"Dad!" Gabriella ran over to him and hugged him. "What are you doing here I thought you were in Milan?" she asked.

"I left, but figured I'd stop by for a few days." Her dad explained. "I didn't know if anyone would be home, I know your mom is gone until tomorrow. I was happy when I saw your car."

Gabriella smiled and gave him another hug. "You really need to stop with the surprise visits."

"Well I know for a fact that my beautiful younger daughter loves surprises." Her dad replied. "So what are you up to today?"

His question reminded Gabriella that she had work to get to. "Oh, actually…I was just about to leave for work." She told him. "It's just the lunch shift, so I could maybe try to…"

"No, no. Don't worry about it." Her dad cut her off. "Actually, mind if I come with you?" he asked.

Gabriella laughed. "You want to come to the restaurant?" she asked him in disbelief.

Her dad shrugged. "Why not?" he asked. "I could use some lunch anyways."

Gabriella still found it odd that he wanted to come, but knew that whenever he was home he tried to see her as much as possible. "Okay, well if you really want to."

"Perfect." Her dad smiled. "So I'll get settled in a little and be there in a while."

"Alright." Gabby replied. "All I need is my purse…" she started looking around for it again.

"Right there." She heard her dad say. She looked over and he was pointing to the little decorative table in the hallway that they were standing in. Sitting beside the table, on the floor and slightly hidden from view was her purse.

"There it is!" she rushed over and quickly picked it up "Thank you!" she said happily and headed for the door. "See you in a bit dad."

"You bet." Her dad replied, right before she went out the door.

Not long after, Gabriella was pulling out of the driveway and on her way to work.


	42. Letter Business

**Hey Guys.**

**I know I've been terrible with updating, and for that I apologize.**

**Sorry for taking so long with this.**

**Things have been extremely crazy and I honestly lost inspiration for a little while in the middle of a bunch of things**

**Anyways, Enjoy!**

**Chapter 42: Letter Business**

Gabriella Montez smiled as she pulled into her driveway, finally home from work. She laughed when she saw her dad, dressed in his usual sleek, clean button down shirt and dress pants, getting out of his sleek, clean sports car. The thing that made her laugh was when she saw him reach into his car and grab a wrapped up piece of leftover cheesecake. It reminded her of the slightly abnormal, yet fun time she had just experienced with him.

When her dad had asked to come to the restaurant she worked at for lunch, she had expected him to come in, check out the place and take a moment to decide whether it was really where he wanted his baby girl to be working. As much as Gabriella loved him, she knew he was often over protective like that.

However, that afternoon, Mr. Montez had not gone in to the restaurant to judge. It was clear that he had gone to see his daughter.

He had stayed for her entire shift, talking to her whenever she wasn't busy, acting funnier and more lovable than even she was used to seeing him. He had even joked around with Taylor, who had wanted to meet him for a while.

Gabriella walked up to the house, following her dad inside. "You sure liked that cake didn't you?" She asked, teasing him.

He smiled at her. "Well it is very good cheesecake." He told her. "The best I've had in a while.

They went into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Yeah my friend Zeke, the one I've told you about who bakes all the time," Gabriella started. "He's always trying to get Taylor to give him the recipe, among others." She laughed.

"I'm assuming Taylor refuses every single time." Her dad said.

"Of course, she's Taylor." Gabriella laughed again. Her dad gave a bit of a laugh, before suddenly growing more serious.

"Well actually I have to tell you, I brought this home so we could share it while we talk about something." Her dad told her, continuing to look more serious than he had been all day.

"What is it?" Gabriella asked. She was already missing the fun dad she had been around all day long.

"Well Gabby, your mother and I have been talking." He told her. "And she's been pretty concerned that you haven't opened this yet." He said, suddenly pulling the envelope she had been trying to ignore out of nowhere. He handed it to her and watched her stare at it blankly.

"Did you search through my room or something?" Gabriella asked, knowing she'd had it hidden in her desk since the day she had gotten it.

Her dad let out a sigh. "No." he shook his head. "To tell you the truth, I used to hide my problems in the drawer of my desk too." He said. "That's how I knew it was the only place to look."

Gabriella was silent for a minute. She hadn't expected this conversation, at least not today. It had popped up out of nowhere. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "So mom asked you to talk to me about this, because we all know I'm daddy's little girl." She said, surprised at the hint of anger in her voice. "Right?" she asked.

"Whether or not she did, we both feel the same way." Her dad kept going, only looking slightly bothered by her cool comment. "You can't ignore this letter forever Gabriella. Or the person who sent it." he said. "I know it's hard, but..."

"Dad stop." Gabriella burst out. "All day you were trying to be worlds best dad so that when we had this conversation I'd immediately agree with you, weren't you?" she said, only fully realizing those words as she said them.

All her life her dad had been the one person able to change her mind, or make her do anything from cleaning her room to agreeing with him during some silly family argument. Gabriella realized that although it had been cute when she was little, now it was completely wrong.

Her dad sighed. "Maybe I…"

"You're going to have to come up with some other way to convince me Dad. I'm not nine years old anymore." Gabriella told him, completely serious. She got up from the couch and walked away, wanting to get out of there.

"Gabby where are you going?" her dad called after her, sounding a little annoyed now.

"Out." Gabriella said shortly. She made it to the front door, grabbing her purse and slamming the heavy door behind her. It was only when she was sitting in her car that she realized she was still holding the letter. She sighed in disgust and stuffed it into her purse, grabbing her cell phone instead.

Two rings later she heard Troy's voice. "Hey Gabby." he aid happily, making her smile the tiniest bit as she pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey where are you?" Gabriella asked, driving away from her house and feeling only the tiniest bit guilty that she had gotten so mad at her dad.

"My mom's….why?" Troy asked.

"I'm coming." Gabriella told him, already driving in that direction "Is that okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure…" Troy sounded confused. "I thought you dad was home though. Don't you want to spend time with him?" he asked, remembering when she had called earlier that day and had sounded completely excited to have her dad around, even if it wasn't for long.

"There's time for that." Gabriella said, hoping she didn't still sound angry or frustrated from the conversation she had just walked out of.

Unfortunately for her, she had a boyfriend who noticed the slightest change in the tone of her voice. "You sound upset is something wrong?" Troy asked.

"It's fine Troy." Gabriella assured him, forcing herself to sound like her usual cheerful self. "See you soon?" she asked.

"Yep sure." Troy replied, not sounding convinced. "Oh yeah, Chad's here is that okay?" he asked, almost forgetting.

"Yeah that's fine." Gabriella didn't really mind all that much. She just wanted to get away from her house for a while. "Bye." She hung up and put her phone in her pocket, concentrating on the road.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Gabriella got out of her car ten minutes later, she did not expect to see a brunette girl walking out of the house. After a moment of confusion, she realized that the girl must have been Jordan, Kevin's daughter.

"Hi." Gabriella said, knowing that she had noticed her pull up to the house.

"Hey." Jordan replied, stopping in front of her. "You are?" She asked curiously. Gabriella noticed right away how completely confidant she was with herself.

"Gabriella." Gabby told her. "I'm um…"

"Troy's girlfriend." Jordan finished for her. "I've heard a lot about you." She said. "I'm Jordan by the way. Probably Troy's future step sister the way things are going here." She added, gesturing to the house toward the house with a nod of her head.

"Right." Gabriella nodded, wondering if Jordan was the only one who was thinking of the possibility of her dad and Troy's mom getting married.

"Well, the door is open." Jordan told her. "I'm just grabbing something from my car." She added.

"Thanks." Gabriella smiled at her. "Nice finally meeting you."

"You too." Jordan smiled back at her before continuing on to her own car.

Gabriella headed towards the house, her afternoon suddenly having another twist. She had finally met Troy's new housemate, though that hadn't exactly been the way she had imagined meeting her.

She let herself into the house, looking around for any sign of Troy or Chad. When she didn't see them in the living room she went to the stairs. Once at the top she looked down the hall and saw Troy's bedroom door open. She hoped they were in there since she didn't feel like looking all over the large house.

When she got to the door, Gabriella spotted Troy by his bed. His back was turned to her so she decided to sneak up to him for fun. Walking quietly until she was right behind him, she leaned in and quickly hugged him from behind, dropping her purse carelessly onto the floor beside them. "Hey you." She said, laughing when she felt him jump a little.

"Gabby." Troy turned around to face her, grabbing her around the waist when she moved her arms to around his neck. After hearing her on the phone he hadn't expected her to be in such a good mood. Yet, there she was, smiling up at him. "You sounded kind of upset when you called…everything okay?" he asked carefully.

Gabriella was saved from trying to think up some answer to that question when Chad came out of the bathroom that was attached to Troy's bedroom. "Hey Gabs what's up?" he asked, barely noticing the fact that it he had just interrupted a private moment.

"Not much." Gabriella gave a little laugh.

"Hey Chad." Troy got his friend's attention. "Think we could have a minute?" he asked, nodding his head towards the bedroom door.

"Fine." Chad made his way out of the room. "But if you two aren't downstairs soon I'm coming to get you." He told them. "Actually no I won't. I don't need to walk in on something that I don't want to see."

"Chad." Troy repeated, a little annoyed.

"Okay I'm gone." Chad laughed, leaving a moment later.

Troy looked back down at Gabriella. "So?" he asked.

"So what?" she asked, staring straight back up at him.

"Everything's okay?" Troy asked. "You sounded so….I don't know, frustrated on the phone." He looked at her curiously, trying to find something wrong. He had a hunch that there was something there.

Gabriella thought for a moment about just how much she wanted to tell him everything that she was hiding. She knew that he would be the one person to listen and comfort her, even though he might not fully understand. Yet, at the same time she didn't want to bring her troubles into his life at the moment. He was already dealing with enough. "Everything's fine." She told him instead of the full honest truth. "Things can get a little overwhelming when my dad's home sometimes." She told him. "I just needed a little break."

"Okay." Troy nodded. "Are you sure?" he asked, pulling her in a little closer.

Gabriella gave him a quick kiss, pulling away and nodding. "Yes." She said. "I'm sorry to barge in on you and Chad's hang out time though." She added.

Troy shrugged. "No it's fine." He told her. "I would have thought you'd call Taylor or Sharpay or someone though." He said.

Gabriella let out a little laugh. "Truthfully I was already on my way here when I called you." She told him.

"I thought you got here a little fast." Troy laughed at that. "Can't get enough of me huh?" he added with a smirk.

Gabriella shook her head immediately. "Well maybe I feel like I missed out on a full week and I'm just making up for lost time." She smirked back at him, teasing him about how he hadn't called for a whole week.

"You are never going to let that go are you?" Troy asked.

"Not for a while anyways." Gabriella joked, giving a little shrug. She leaned in and kissed him again, this time for longer.

Troy pulled away for a moment, leaning his forehead on hers. "You suck." He said, his smirk back on his face.

Gabby let out a little laugh. "Yeah I know." she said, barely finishing her sentence before his lips were on hers again. They stayed that way for a while, both loving it. When Gabriella felt Troy start to push her closer to his bed, she pulled away, suddenly feeling a bit of guilt for not telling him what was really going on. "We shouldn't keep Chad waiting." She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door.

"I guess so." Troy agreed. He caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a quick kiss on the shoulder before walking forward with her in his arms. They separated when they got to the stairs, descending into the living room where Chad was waiting.

"That was quick." Chad stated when he saw them.

Troy shrugged. "We were just talking." He told Chad as him and Gabriella sat down on the couch.

"Mmhmm…. Chad nodded, clearly not believing a single word that Troy had said. "You think for one second that I am going to believe that you two." He stopped and looked at them both, somewhat accusingly. "You two." He repeated, giving them both another look "Only talked while in a room alone together?"

There was a moment of silence before Gabriella picked up one of the pillows on the couch and threw it at Chad. "Oh shut up." She told him, rolling her eyes.

He looked at her in shock. "Why Ms. Montez, I do believe you having been spending too much time around a certain girlfriend of mine" he told her.

"Aw does Taylor throw pillows in your face when you're being annoying too?" Gabriella asked in fake sympathy.

Chad nodded. "Yep." He said. "And you know what I do when she does?" he asked her.

"What?" Gabby asked. Before she knew it the pillow she had just thrown at Chad was hitting her face. She picked it up off the floor and looked at him, mouth wide open. "You did not just…"

"Oh yes I did." Chad laughed. His laugh was muffled a second later though, when he got another pillow in the face.

The two of them whipped pillows back and forth in their own juvenile sort of pillow fight. Troy just laughed and shook his head. "Um guys?" he asked after they had thrown it back and forth a few times.

"Yeah?" Gabby and Chad both asked, Chad now holding the pillow. They glanced at each other and laughed, somehow both fully understanding what their next move would be. Gabriella picked up another pillow and they both threw them at the same time. Without warning, Troy was hit by two pillows.

He grabbed both pillows and looked at the two of them. "Okay, this is war."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

About fifteen minutes later, Troy, Gabriella and Chad had collapsed on the carpet in the living room, a few of the pillows from the couches scattered around them.

"Was there even a winner after all of that?" Chad asked tiredly. He grabbed a pillow that was close to him and stuffed it under his.

"I don't know I kind of lost track when everything turned into chaos." Troy told him. Gabriella laughed and was interrupted when her phone rang from the pocket of her jeans.

She pulled it out quickly and looked at it, still lying on the carpet. "It's Sharpay." She said before flipping it open. "Hey Shar." She said happily.

"Gabby! Guess what? Sharpay asked, sounding anxious to continue.

"What?" Gabriella asked.

"Okay so this morning my parents packed their suitcases and took daddy's plane to Paris for two weeks." Sharpay told her. "Who knows why, they just got back from another trip."

"Okay…." Gabriella replied, unsure where this was going.

"Anyways, what I'm saying is that Ryan and I have the house completely to ourselves for two weeks because Rosita is taking a holiday too." Sharpay told her excitedly. Gabriella knew who Sharpay meant by Rosita. She was the wonderful and sweet housekeeper who had practically helped bring up Sharpay and Ryan. "Which means," Sharpay went on. "That we can do whatever we want." She said happily. "And tonight I want to throw a huge party."

Gabriella laughed. She could have guessed that was coming. "Tonight? Seriously?" she asked.

"Yep!" Sharpay replied. "Everything's already worked out perfectly, but could you just do me one favor?"

"Sure." Gabby told her, hoping it wasn't anything too big.

"Just call everyone in our group and tell them to get their butts here tonight and ready to party." Sharpay requested. "Oh and tell them they can stay over too."

Gabriella laughed again. "Alright Shar." She said "See you later."

"You too." Sharpay replied. She gave a little excited squeal. "Ooh this is going to be so fabulous! Bye!" she said and hung up. Gabby hung up too and out her phone back into her pocket.

"What was that all about?" Troy asked curiously.

Gabriella sat up and looked at him and Chad. "Sharpay and Ryan. Well, I'm assuming mostly Sharpay, are having a party." She told them both.

"Sweet." Chad said. "When?"

"Tonight." Gabriella said simply.

"Tonight?" Chad repeated, a little shocked.

Troy laughed. "Only Sharpay would be able to plan a party in less than a day."

"Yeah." Gabriella smiled. "Anyways she told me to make sure everyone gets their butts there tonight, so are you guys in?" She asked, relieved when they both nodded. The three of them got up off the floor, ready to head back to the couch.

"Sounds good to me." Troy nodded.

"I'm in." Chad added happily.

"Alright, well I better go then." Gabriella said a moment later.

"Aw but you just got here." Troy argued, putting on a fake pout, which caused Chad to hold back a burst of laughter.

"Relax, I'll see you later." Gabriella laughed. "Oh, I left my purse upstairs, I'll just go grab it quickly." She turned and quickly made her way up the stairs, random things starting to flow into her head like what to wear and who she still had to talk to. Maybe a party was just the thing she needed to get her mind off of the letter business.

She went into to Troy's room and quickly spotted her purse, remembering how she had practically thrown it down when she had gotten there. She grabbed it and made her way back out again, not noticing that a certain envelope had slipped out in the rush.


End file.
